CD: "Infinity on High" by Fall Out Boy; Fueled By Ramen Records

Released: Feb. 5

Style: Rock

My take: For most people, sitting in a Best Buy parking lot and chain-popping Ativan pills results in death. For Fall Out Boy's bassist and lead songwriter Pete Wentz, that incident was part of the birth of the band's stardom.

For FOB's 2005 release "From Under the Cork Tree," Wentz wrote about his overdose (which he refuses to call a suicide attempt, despite the obvious) in the song "7 Minutes to Heaven." That track never made it to mainstream radio, but other smash hits such as "Sugar, We're Going Down," "Dance, Dance" and "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me" getting more spins than a washing machine and vaulting the band to mega-success more than made up for it.

The Willamette, Ill., natives followed up the multiplatinum sales of "Cork Tree" with the recent release "Infinity On High," a record rife with equal amounts of irony and sugar-laden rock. While not a bad album by pop-punk standards, listeners will get the feeling Fall Out Boy was trying to do too many things at once.

Opening track "Thriller" is the perfect example of these contradictions, despite being the best cut of the 14 here. The first voice you hear on the song, and thus the album, is rapper Jay-Z in a spoken dedication to the fans. That's not necessarily bad, but it's curious why none of the band members did it and makes for an awkward listen as you don't hear singer Patrick Stump's voice from the very start. Farther in the song, the lyrics contradict the music. The band proudly exclaims "All our hearts beat for the diehards, yet "Infinity On High" is obviously the poppiest material it's ever recorded.

Anyone who has heard "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" and compared it to any previous single probably feels the same way. This is further proved by tracks produced by Babyface, Jay-Z's aforementioned short cameo and the band dropping obvious pop-culture references. The chorus of "Thnks fr th Mmrs" has one of Julia Roberts' more memorable lines from the 2004 drama "Closer": "He tastes like you but sweeter."

Also, take note of the scream-like vocals in "The Carpal Tunnel of Love." While branching out into different genres is essential for band growth, the scream singing just flat out doesn't work for Fall Out Boy.

What Wentz is good at, however, is keeping his song titles absurd yet interesting such as "I'm Like a Lawyer With All the Ways I'm Trying to Get You Off," "You're Crashing, But You're No Wave," "Bang the Doldrums," and "I've Got All This Ringing in My Ears and None on My Fingers."

But despite all the saccharine-laced pop-punk songs, the hit-or-miss success rates of the song list and polished, sometimes overproduced audio architecture, there is enough good material here to make for a fun listen at parties, long drives and workouts at the gym. After one listen, you'll sort through the songs that are throwaways and the ones you'll be playing in your head on a loop for hours. Enjoy.

Jeremy Castillo, who received an associate of arts degree from Windward Community College, is attending the University of Idaho.