Call That A Comeback?

**Fall Out Boy have reunited following a three-year hiatus from the music business, spurring a US tour and the release of new single ‘My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)’. While the drawn-out title is typical of the Illinois group during its heyday, the song itself is not. Swathing Patrick Stump’s vocals in sluggish production reduces his usually impressive range to a monotonous mess. Sure, the hook is mildly catchy, but it lacks the frenetic energy that made the likes of ‘Dance, Dance’ so popular.**

So, classic Fall Out Boy it isn’t. But the letdown of their latest offering begs a larger question: are band reunions worth it?

Take That are possibly the most notable recent example of a successful band reunion. Major players in the booming boy band market of the 90’s, they made a resurgent comeback to the music scene in 2006 as their album _Beautiful World_ reached the number one in the UK charts. Their success is testament to the band’s adaptability. Take That have not so much returned to old ways as forged a new path through the world of pop music by replacing boyish ballads with sweeping synth-pop anthems. In fact, _Progress_, their second album since reuniting, was such a break from the norm that the band even ‘considered changing their name to The English,’ writes NME’s Luke Turner.

Clearly, reunions can be done with a degree of success. But should they?

While reuniting is not an embarrassment in and of itself, it is difficult for fans and critics alike to dampen their lofty expectations and embrace new material that deviates from an act’s obvious strengths. Fifteen years in the making, the Guns N’ Roses LP _Chinese Democracy_ was one of the most eagerly awaited albums in recent memory prior to its release in 2008. It heralded a mixed reception by the time it finally arrived in all its bombastic glory, though frontman Axl Rose’s constant reshuffling of band members and persistent delays ensured that his reputation had been sullied along with that of his now-unrecognisable band.

The Strokes, an outfit that once led the way in the garage rock revival of the last decade, had what they described as a “hibernation period” before the release of the inconsistent Angles in 2011. Having been remembered for their hugely influential _Is This It_ and _Room on Fire_, the group’s growing frustration and constantly shifting production methods undermined the effortless aura of their beginnings. An inevitable result, perhaps, of what they themselves described as a ‘weird energy’ that pervaded their return.

Such group dynamics will inevitably change, and the reasons for a band’s split are unlikely to disappear lightly. Following their 2009 hiatus, Fall Out Boy’s members set about working on musical side projects that strayed from their musical origins, with bassist Pete Wentz even turning his hand to writing a novel.

To judge Fall Out Boy by their first forays into their return would be remiss. And yet first impressions indicate that, in a musical environment where repetitious hooks dominate the charts, there is little place for the gleeful pop punk histrionics of Wentz and co.

Above all, it is difficult to justify this reunion as reinvention on the band’s terms. Rather, it smacks of a forced change of direction; an attempt to fit a square peg in a round hole. This is not to say that Fall Out Boy’s reunion may not yet be successful. Perhaps, though, it is best to remember the feats of a band in their prime while recognising that they can no longer replicate them.