From their new album, Folie à Deux, the video’s very…er… like a horror version of a Beatles movie. Allie questions the fixation with carnival and circusfolk – which goes for them and Panic At The Disco if memory serves me right.

While I love the sound – it’s epic and loud and all that, America’s Suitehearts doesn’t have quite the memorable chorus or the punchiness I was expecting.

Hazel seems to be quite the Fall Out Boy fan, but thinks it wasn’t necessarily the best choice for first single:

So, while this isn’t necessarily the single I wanted and isn’t necessarily what I’d call totally representative of the album, it’s still a deceptive piece of genius, catchy as you’d expect and self-absorbedly outrospective ("but what will they think?" is a common theme here) lyrically as all Fall Out Boy’s songs. Just so long as they do actually release ‘Headfirst…’ soon.

Now, I’m not totally sold on FOB – they’re good, but sometimes they just don’t work for me. I still have a bad taste in my mouth from their cover of Beat It, and this latest single seems to be slightly wide of the mark. America’s Suitehearts has all the right ingredients for a great rock tune, but in the end it just doesn’t satisfy.

Of all the stupid things a potential parent might say, comparing having a child to making a record is about as idiotic as it gets. According to NME, the Fall Out Boy bass-spanker (rhymes with something else appropriate, huh?) has said it’s “like making a record, but knowing you’re going to mix it for the next 18 years of your life.”

Yeah, Pete, come back and speak to us when you’ve spent a few years changing nappies. Having a child is nothing like making a record, you naive fool. We wish the guy all the best with his new baby, but it’s obvious Wentz has absolutely no frame of reference for something this big and is struggling to relate it to something he understands.

From what we understand, the pregnancy wasn’t a planned thing, even though Pete and Ashlee Simpson announced they were excited about the news.

It’ll be interesting to watch Wentz’s opinion change once he’s had a bit of practical experience with the fatherhood thing. OK, so he can probably pay someone to take care of the dirty aspects like cleaning asses and vomit and look after the Wentz marital home, but let’s give it a while, then we can talk…

It’s a known fact that rock bands love to cover Michael Jackson songs, which is why we’re not surprised to learn the mascara-loving members of Fall Out Boy are covering Jackson’s classic, Beat It.

On this track, they’ve teamed up with celebrity boyfriend-for-hire/guitarist John Mayer (come on, you’ve never heard his music either, have you?) for quite a stormin’ rendition of an awesome song.

What struck us on watching the Beat It video was how much FOB are morphing into some kind of glam rock band. OK, so they’ve been doing the eyeliner bit for ages, but are they ready to commit to feather boas and bandanas ;)

As cover versions go, Fall Out Boy manage a fairly faithful copy of the original, albeit with crunchier guitars and Patrick Stump sounding a little bit strained on vocals. Oh, and no Eddie Van Halen. Mayer’s solo has some elements of brilliance, but we’ll always expect those finger-tapping, whammy-bar diving moves that graced the original Beat It…

I love Fall Out Boy. For me, they’re in the vein of earlier pop-punk bands like Sum 41 and Blink 182 – where the music is pure energy and you don’t worry too much about the lyrical content.

Having said that, I won’t go any further until I mention the txt-inspired title – thnks fr th mmrs, or Thanks For The Memories if you were born before 1992. I’m not sure how I feel about the name, but it’ll sure as hell confuse Fall Out Boy’s over-40 fans!

On one hand, thnks fr th mmrs is standard Fall Out Boy fare, playing to an already successful formula, and other commentators have said that it lacks the oomph of This Ain’t A Scene.

For my money, it’s a passable piece of pop-punk, and as one of those links says, it’s radio friendly to a fault. Definitely not as memorable as This Ain’t A Scene, but a safe single to release. It won’t gain them many new fans, but it’s not likely to lose any either. I’m looking forward to this coming on the car radio on the way home from work…

Anyway, time to laugh at the funny monkeys….