Who is Patrick Stump? I did not know until AFTER listening to his album “Soul Punk.” I looked it up and it seems he is the lead dude of the pop rock band Fall Out Boy. If he’s auditioning for The Backstreet Boys he has a shot with “Soul Punk” which might be trying to play too cool for boy band school, but ultimately it falls right on the edge of that junk bin. I say on the edge because there are some slick and catchy tunes on the cd that help it teeter and not fall all the way in. I say this as a hater, who must admit it has goodness, so pop music fans will probably love the album 100%.
The best songs on “Soul Punk” are: “Explode,” “Everybody Wants Somebody,” “Allie,” and “Coast(Its Gonna Get Better.)”
“Explode”: It’s a pop music puzzle of sound with Michael Jackson and more in there! The hard rocker in me hates to say it, but it’s actually a pretty cool minus all the claps. This should be a hit? Is this a hit? I don’t keep up with music I just review it.
“This City”: I was suckered in and now my ears are being raped by a boy band reject. Lame.
“Danced Miserable”: Gospel boogie pop. Annoyingly silly.
“Spotlight (New Regrets)”: Generic dance pop self-motivational song.
“The “I” In Lie”: A pop song about cheating and kind of celebrating it, sort of. Meh.
“Run Dry (X Heart X Fingers)”: The second a pop singer goes to the “step 1, step 2″ counting as the lyrics crap I want to give them the middle finger and throw their stupid song back at them. This is one of those, hey look I can count songs.
“Greed”: It’s got a lot of get up and go nowhere, but it goes there, well, not there, fast.
“Everybody Wants Somebody”: A more infectious pop track that rises to the status of the opening track that set a bar that has thus far been squatted under. It’s catchy and the identifiable relationship commentary makes the lyrics fun for the ears with just a pinch of emotional connect-ability.
“Allie”: Another song that gives more fun to the listener than not. “You could have taught me such naughty things.”
“Coast (It’s Gonna Get Better)”: This time Patrick Stump turns the generic motivational dance pop on its head and somehow manages to make it actually stand out in making you want to hold your head up. Well done.