Hold Me Like A Grudge has a strut to it that makes Justin Timberlake look like his arse is hanging out. Fake Out is almost like hazy ’80s radio rock a la Don Henley's Boys Of Summer. So Good Right Now is classic FOB with its dancing shoes on, ditto the superb What A Time To Be Alive. The dramatic strings on I Am My Own Muse, or the shadowy closing vibes of the title-track are pitched just right to add character without falling into farce.
It's refreshing that Patrick Stump's songwriting skills and genius hand with a melody are presented here so un-messed with. As a man who's so often given the nod to artists like Elton John and 1950s American 'King Of Soul' Sam Cooke, to hear such influences coming through to articulately, but with his own fingerprints so impressed on them, is testament the man's talent. The result is somewhere between emo and Mark Ronson. It's superb.
So, Fall Out Boy have pulled something of a switcheroo on us. So Much (For) Stardust does have a foot in a past FOB, but where they're taking you is somewhere you weren't expecting, and it's equally welcome. Just as importantly, they sound like Fall Out Boy again.
Verdict: 4/5
For fans of: My Chemical Romance, Elton John, Paramore
So Much (For) Stardust is out now via Fueled By Ramen
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