Love From The Other Side

Didn’t think I'd hear a good FOB song post 2008 (well at least one that was actually on an album). The video definitely has a lot of the rock godisms that they have rolled with since Save Rock and Roll, Pete Wentz still looks as punchable as always, and Joe is canonically a furry now. So par for the course when it comes to them.

But video aside, I think the return to using symphonic arrangements was a good idea. Patrick Stump has been doing lots of soundtracks in between Mania and now. He did Batman’s theme in the Lego Batman movie (it’s good, and actually pretty awesome!), he also did an indie thriller about a guy who copes with the loss of his wife by going on a spirit walk in Iceland or whatever (it’s bad, like actually awful). But despite the quality, the soundtracks he’s done are pretty decent overall, and I can recognize a lot of his work in this opening symphonic segment. Really like the slow arpeggiation of the piano in the beginning of the track. Paired with midi strings, it creates a great atmosphere for a track as gloomy as this.

Outside of the strings however, I think this song plays to FOB’s strength of laying down Pop Punk tracks with soulful and peppy vocals from Patrick. The pre chorus invokes this the most, as the guitars on the track have a push and pull nature to them (which fits really well with the MV since the boys are sea at this point) that meshes well with Patricks staccato singing. If I had to compare it to a track, I’d say it has a lot of the playful energy a track like “She’s My Winona” has. And the chorus itself hits the mark pretty well, a little on the generic side, but it does the job.

Overall, good stuff, looking forward to more of this.