Leave the emo debate behind. Let it go. The better question surrounding Fall Out Boy contains the words “sell” and “out.” Just like the issue of genre identification, some will say they are, some say they aren’t. In 2003, the debut album Take This to Your Grave became a staple for fans of the punkish sounds found just beyond the beaten path. May 2005 brought the event fueling deliberation: Fall Out Boy had the audacity to release From Under the Cork Tree, and mainstream MTV pop-punkers had the nerve to embrace it.

It might be hard to watch even a glimpse of the video for “Sugar, We’re Going Down” on VH1. It might be easy to use as a means of writing off the quartet as inauthentic. To such former fans, going national is less a marker of success and more a signal of conformity. But is the accusation valid?

The sound created by the Chicago-based quartet of singer and guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lyricist and guitarist Joe Trohman and drummer Andy Hurley is still as energetic and mediocre as ever. No one argues for Fall Out Boy as a great band based on its beats, riffs and melodies. It effortlessly falls into the messy mix of all other debatable emo bands.

Fall Out Boy just as effortlessly stands out based on its lyrical abilities. The titles for the album’s 13 tracks have all the charm and charisma expected from the boys. Who can resist the temptation to hear what a song entitled “I’ve Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song)” has to offer? What about “I Slept With Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was a Stupid Song Written About Me”? Such is the appeal of one of this summer’s most sought-after Warped Tour performances.

The unwillingness to be anything but blatant and honest is clearly an underlying theme throughout the album. The opening track, “Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued,” has Stump singing in his classic emotive tenor tones, “We’re only liars, but we’re the best / We’re only good for the latest trends / We’re only good ’cause you have almost famous friends / Besides, we’ve got such good fashion sense”.

Such mention of the industry and superficiality — even in its most sarcastic element — seems to foreshadow the accusations of selling out. In fact, the most dispensable tune on the album, “Sophomore Slump or the Comeback Year,” eerily suggests the former.

Yet the immediate popularity of “Sugar, We’re Going Down” indicates the latter. And for those refusing to give in to the notion of the sophomore slump, Fall Out Boy offers “Dance, Dance” to hearken back to the debut album’s glory. The lyrics reveal the writer’s pain (“And these are the lives you love to lead / Dance, this is the way they’d love me / If they knew how misery loved me”) and sassiness toward his subject (“Why don’t you show me a little bit of spine / You’ve been saving for his mattress / I only want sympathy in the form of you crawling into bed with me”). Classic. Slung over high-tempo beats and quickly strummed guitars, few things could epitomize all there is to praise about this band.

Similarly, closer “XO” is a definite highlight, especially for proponents of the evolution of a band’s style. A little more poignant, a little more subdued than traditional Fall Out Boy sounds, it shows them as more than a bunch of whining boys, boys playing around with juvenile metaphors that do little more than give listeners sarcastic smiles or sardonic sneers. There just might be some musicians among the poets.

With a vast mix of catchy tunes to applaud and tunes to skip, From Under the Cork Tree demonstrates the difficulty of evolving. So many want one to continue doing what has already been accomplished so well. But even with the missteps and the questionability, Fall Out Boy’s record demonstrates the band’s undeniable philosophy: it might not be flawless, but it is true.

Grade: B

Second Opinon

Fall Out Boy’s sophomore release, From Under the Cork Tree, has taken the pop-punk world by storm, becoming the soundtrack of summer 2005. The band best known for quirky lyrics and high energy presents an array of clever lyricism and songs that are easy to sing along with and rock out to. “Sugar, We’re Going Down,” the CD’s first single, showcases the band’s talent, with the rest of the album doing the same. On the surface, From Under the Cork Tree may seem like just another punk-rock attempt at greatness, but a deeper listen will reveal the true talent of Fall Out Boy and its sophomore release.

Grade: B

— Laura Stanelle, Associate ArtsEtc. Editor