Why Patrick Stump's 'Soul Punk' might be one of the most important albums for Fall Out Boy

Known for being the lead guitarist, composer and vocalist for the Rock/Emo band Fall Out Boy, Patrick Stump has been recognized by critics as "one of the best voices in pop punk". Looking back at his awesome career, one particular spot remains a little elusive. Fall Out Boy went into hiatus, almost as if the band had broke up.

Bitingly unique and bringing in a wave of new styles and narratives, Soul Punk was the first full length by the artist released in 2011. Wanting to combine both and include the musical vernacular of the Soul and Punk genres, Stump brought forth the album, working solo. And by working solo, we mean solo. Even the instrumentals were made by him:

"When it comes to pop music, there's this perception that all you have to do is press a button on your iPad [to get the sounds] but I wanted to make it with love and put a lot into it. A lot of people asked, 'Where did you get the drum sounds?' I played them. 'What synth plug-in was that?' I played all the synths. 'How'd you get that bass tone?' It's a bass. I really wanted to put in the effort, even if people might not notice."

With hidden tracks in the album, to the paradoxically simple yet complex lyrics and the accompanying instrumentals, Patrick Stump made sure the album was a surprise for fans and critics alike. Today, we'll be looking at the best songs of the album. 

Note the list is in no particular order.

1. Explode

Their last hopes, on him they'd hung

And they weighed him like a ton

But perhaps for him he'd none much left to lose

Tony, don't sweat it

Keep your hands steady

You were born on a dare but you were born ready

Cut the red wire

Or was that the green wire?

Initially released as a single, Explode is the most famous song from the album. Just as the title suggests, it is aggressive and powerful, and packs quite a punch, right from the start. With an aggressive beat, the lyrics tell the story of a 'middle aged mess' and how he has to defuse an explosive. 

He's defined as an 'action screenplay cliché', but his mind is messed up, and has a nihilistic world view, verging on 'exploding'. This way, the focus of the song is not on the actual defusing, but rather what this 'middle aged mess' is going through. 

The instrumental of this song is rather unique as well, marking it distinct from the rest of the album, and what Patrick has done before while in Fall Out Boy. Patrick's vocals also shine here, and are quite fresh and full of energy. Its almost as if the man's declaring he's different than what he was before.

2. This City (ft. Lupe Fiaso)

This city is my city
And I love it, yeah I love it
I was born and raised here
I got it made here
And if I have my way, I'm gonna stay

This City speaks out at how we can always focus on the good parts of life. A love letter to the city he grew up in, the synth and the charismatic beats compliment the track. Lupe Fiaso adds some rap and variety to the track, something which would become the selling point of Fall Out Boy's future album, Make America Psycho Again.

The lyrics focus both on the abstract and the physical, giving out tones of loyalty and focus on ideas of patriotism and ownership. The song is simply good to listen to, and was quite successful on the charts. Probably something people would see in a tourist advert, the song is more of a statement of the artist than a pop song.

3. Spotlight

'Cause they might

Try to tell you how you can live your life

But don't don't forget it's your right

To do whatever you like, you like

Following the trend, it seems Patrick has attempted to move away from the emo genre to something that is not as depressing at worst and quite inspirational at best. As far as this song goes, it is a celebration of individuality, and so it proudly proclaims, 

"Oh nostalgia, I don't need you anymore."

Also one of the more well known songs from the album, synths are used liberally and with a little expert work in sound mixing and sporadic glitching, Spotlight stands out as one of the artist's best.

4. Everybody Wants Somebody

A young man is a pull pin

Looking for a grenade, yeah

A young woman will drive you places

You never meant to go

Patrick characterized the lyrics as being "90% metaphors", and nowhere is it more direct than in this track. The drums and the sax work together to bring out its amazing score. The song itself this might as well work as good advice to the fans. 

Giving hope and keeping it honest, a reality check is offered to the listeners instead of the usual pandering to whatever mood the listener might be in. Whether it works against or for the album, is another story.

While clearly a departure from emo, this song has many redeeming qualities, and ends up being one of the best in the album.

 

5. Coast

We’re gonna keep living

We’re gonna get by

We never have to lay down and die

‘Cause it’s gonna get better, better

If Spotlight  was a little inspirational, Coast takes the same energy to new heights. Determination defines this song, and it may symbolize the will of Patrick himself, and the amount of work he put into the album (Read below).  

The song tells that even if we make mistakes, we do it for us to improve ourselves, and gives hope. It can also be described as the voices inside everyone's head, one who's always down, and one that knows self esteem and has the courage to push forward.

Starting with 8 bit audio and turning into digital and electronic score, the song also makes a statement to childhood, and plays into the theme of innocence and death quite well. A must listen for any Stump fan, Coast remains as the throwback to how experimental the artist was in 2011.  

Conclusion

Patrick even left his signature fedora.

Soul Punk was not a smash hit, or quite popular at first. At the time, it was an anxious time for the fans too: Would Fall Out Boy get together, ever? Would Patrick remain as a solo artist? However, despite the grave notions Soul Punk gets as being 'that one time Patrick went off track', we'd argue it is in fact, quite the opposite. As Patrick said,

"Soul Punk is less a cohesive narrative as one piece and more individual pieces that dissect a few themes. The album as a whole deals with greed and paranoia and how the two influence each other. The record also deals a bit with innocence and death."

Soul Punk stands as a statement to achieving one's dreams. When he went on tour, he slept in his friend's house, just to have enough money to continue his passion. He didn't give up on his dreams, and this is something we can take note. 

Ultimately, this album gave Patrick enough time and thoughts to make Fall Out Boy's new album, Save Rock and Roll, which ended up being one of the best selling and critically acclaimed albums Fall Out Boy ever made, after the band came back together unexpectedly in 2013. 

Want to see how much Fall Out Boy has changed since 2011? Check out our curation of the best 5 tracks from their 2018 album M A N I A here!

The songs we have mentioned above contain nods and foreshadowing to the change in style, as well as the amount of experimentation the band would do. The album can also be seen as the turning point for the band itself, as it starts to focus more towards rock and pop music than emo.

 

As always, these are just what The DXR Script liked. Share this post with others if you liked it! Which ones are your favorite or have something to add? Tell us in the comments!

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