Just this past February the world of pop rock was lit aflame once more with raucous cheers across the globe ushering in the return of Fall Out Boy with open arms. “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light ‘Em Up),” released alongside the announcement that the four Chicago boys finally called their hiatus off, became one of the most influential rock singles of the year, and their subsequent album, “Save Rock and Roll,” released in April, had solidified the band’s full-out glorious return. Now, just six short months later, the band is releasing a brand new deluxe version of their latest work, and along with it, a brand new mini-album/mixtape of sorts in the form of “Pax•Am Days.” The rocking effort has already been streaming for a good few days prior to the release of “Save Rock and Roll: Pax•Am Limited Deluxe Edition” on October 15, which you can listen to here right now as you read along. “Pax•Am Days” is also being released as an individual entity on iTunes for just $4.99.
As inferred by the record’s title, “Pax•Am Days” is the result of a two day writing and recording session with Whiskeytown wonder Ryan Adams at his renowned Pax Americana Recording Company, or PAX AM for short. Aside from that, what else is there to say about the product of this recording session? Well, for starters, it’s pure, in-your-face, genuine, edgy, hard-rocking garage punk like Fall Out Boy has never quite delved into before, and they do it like pros. Pete Wentz, Joe Trohman, and Andy Hurley relentlessly pour their rock-driven souls into an 11-minute jam like most modern rock instrumentalists haven’t ever even dreamed of before while Patrick Stump an array of honest and hard-cutting vocals like never before. Ryan Adams has mastered the work in a way that captures the band in its most raw state to date, and the product is as genuine as it is a masterpiece in its own right. People just don’t make records like that anymore, and it’s refreshing when a band has the guts to take on a project in the way that Adams and Fall Out Boy had succeeded in creating.
Even if you were never a fan of Fall Out Boy in the past or just somehow haven’t ever given them your ear just yet, this is worth a good listen if you’re a fan of rock and roll. “Pax•Am Days” is a short but sweet piece of master-class work that proves that the four-boys-that-could-and-have understand and respect where they came from and what the roots of the genre that made them into who they are today are. No matter how many directions their musical ventures will take them into their lifetime, “Pax•Am Days” in its 11 minutes and 59 seconds proves that, within their souls, they’ll always be the four punk kids from Wilmette, Illinois. If you’re a fan of Fall Out Boy, or just real, gritty, headbang-worthy rock and roll, “Pax•Am Days” is worth a listen.
Rating: 5/5
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