The Blue Stones “Let Me Out” and Fall Out Boy “Love From The Other Side” are two different takes on the same concept: undeniably potent, emotional rock and roll. You absolutely don’t wanna be sleeping on new DLC debuting Thursday in the Rock Band Music Store!
Canadian duo The Blue Stones had some fairly specific goals for their third album, Pretty Monster, released in November 2022. At the time of the disc’s release, lead vocalist and guitarist Tarek Jafar shared, “We thought we would do something that was accurate to the energy and the sound of our live show. Just a punchier, more in-your-face record.” As the LP’s seventh cut “Let Me Out” aptly demonstrates, the boys can rest easy because it’s clearly a “mission-accomplished” type of scenario. Between Jafar’s gritty and raw performance and drummer/backing vocalist Justin Tessier’s primal beats, the track is a blueprint for how to craft sublimely executed 21st-century blues-rock bombast. After 10 seconds of quietly atmospheric, compressed drums and a repeating one-note tattoo, “Let Me Out” turns the volume up to 10 and opens the floodgates with gloriously dirty guitar fuzz and bare-bones, persistent kick/snare supporting Jafar’s vocal delivery of some surprisingly vulnerable lyrics. When the chorus arrives (and what a chorus!) those aforementioned minimalist drums somehow get “bigger,” though not in an immediately identifiable way to those stuck within the confines of traditional instrumentation. Tessier has shared, “When we were recording it, we didn’t have any cymbals set up. In the chorus, I’m riding on a double track that’s part cowbell and the other part of it is literally just a piece of 3/8-inch-thick sheet metal with a towel on it. We were noticing that so many people in hip-hop and pop were getting away from using cymbals, so we tried to follow that sort of philosophy.” Well, that explains that! Clever fellas. With a compact run-time of 3:12, “Let Me Out” is nonstop frenetic texture and almost elegiac atmosphere that speaks to the all-too-often-untapped potency of a bare-bones approach. This is top-tier rock-and-roots-and-roll that has one foot firmly planted in tradition, while simultaneously moving confidently into new and uncharted territories. You’ll find yourself playing this one over and over – trust us!
Emo/punk legends Fall Out Boy released “Love From The Other Side” in January of 2023 as the lead single from the group’s forthcoming (3/24/23) eighth studio album, So Much (for) Stardust, and – ladies and gentlemen: this one’s a legit banger. After the intriguing piano-rich orchestral intro, at around 36 seconds in Andy Hurley’s rapid-fire drums and guitarist Joe Trohman’s muscular six-string handiwork provide the all the “punch” you could possibly be hoping for in a punchy, hard-rocking start. The familiar soulful poignancy and candor of lead vocalist Patrick Stump finally arrives at a minute into this nearly five-minute(!) track and – cue all the nostalgia – it suddenly sounds like the Fall Out Boy of old, and damn does it feel good. To be clear, this is no throwback retread, but rather a logical extension of what FOB began back in the early aughts and continued to evolve through to their unexpected 2010 hiatus. Bassist Pete Wentz provides a healthy dose of metaphor-rich lyrics for Stump to really lean into, as well as plenty of phrases with soul-scratching sentiment. With a massively catchy melody throughout that culminates with a chorus that distills all of what made FOB global superstars in the first place, “Love From The Other Side” is simultaneously raucous, uplifting, emotionally draining, and relentlessly (slam)danceable. The intro’s orchestration – this time punctuated with guitar/bass/drum rhythmic accents at key moments – returns after that gigantic chorus, serving as a respite before the second verse and then it’s back to an ever-increasing-in-intensity delivery of the template established in the first half of the song. At the 3:33 mark, the band dials back the sonic onslaught somewhat, allowing Stump’s expressive pipes to have the well-deserved spotlight, as his crooning movingly pairs with the still-present string section. The calm before the storm is brief, though, and soon an ever-louder snare fill brings the whole proceeding to a stop-on-a-dime pump of the brakes at 3:55 before one final run-through of the mighty refrain. If “Love From The Other Side” is any indication, FOB fans – both longtime and new converts – are in for a treat with the upcoming LP. Welcome to your new fave!
“Love From The Other Side” represents the triumphant return of one of the biggest rock bands of the past 20-plus years. Fall Out Boy set the stage for a whole host of like-minded groups when they started their journey back in 2001, but as the saying goes: often copied, never equaled. The first single from the quartet’s upcoming eighth LP, So Much (for) Stardust, is a startlingly authoritative reminder of just how excellent FOB always was – and remains to this day. Riffs for days, assertive rhythmic interplay, ambitious orchestral flourishes, and likely the most irresistible chorus of any hard rock song so far in 2023: this track is truly special. Listeners agreed, sending “Love From The Other Side” to the very top of the Alternative Airplay chart on March 4, 2023. Of the cut – which is both satisfyingly familiar to longtime fans and also sonically adventurous – lead singer Patrick Stump has said, “It’s not a throwback record,” and bassist Pete Wentz agrees: “I didn’t want to go back to a specific style, but I wanted to imagine what it would have sounded like if we [hadn’t taken] a break for a few years.” Check out Fall Out Boy’s full discography over on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4UXqAaa6dQYAk18Lv7PEgX
Also, make sure to drop by https://falloutboy.com to pick up some FOB merch, sign up for the band’s mailing list, and keep informed about upcoming live performances.
The Blue Stones “Let Me Out” and Fall Out Boy “Love From The Other Side” are available for $1.99 each.
BUY ROCK BAND 4 DLC ON XBOX ONE
BUY ROCK BAND 4 DLC ON PLAYSTATION®4
*Please note that this week’s DLC tracks will be available for purchase on Thursday, March 23rd.