Still traveling the country on her Speak Now tour, Taylor Swift continues her series of covering songs by music acts who have an association to the city she’s currently in. She performed Eminem in Detroit, Pink and TLC in Philly, and last night in Chicago, the Teen Choice winner busted out Chi-Town fave Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Goin Down”. What, did you expect her to cover a Kanye song? (How amazing would that have been if she did, though?) Watch below.

Our mama taught us if we don’t have anything nice to say, we should just listen to the original artist’s recording instead.

[Via PopCrush]

Justin Timberlake’s newest movie Bad Teacher was released in theaters this past weekend, where it scored an impressive $31 million at the box-office. The success of his newest cinematic venture is just another nail in the coffin that was his music career. He’s made it clear that “music is not my focus right now”, but when, JT, when?! As desperate as we are for Timberlake to step back in the studio (and not just for another Lonely Island digital short), he isn’t the only artist at the top of their game who either fled from the spotlight or focused their energy on alternate projects. Check out the nine other acts we’re practically begging to release new tunes.

Patrick Stump might be on a solo tour right now, but he assures us that it’s been anything but lonely. “I haven’t been wanting for company,” the Fall Out Boy frontman-turned-one-man-band told us during a chat before his two sold-out shows at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. “I’m definitely surrounded by people. It’s a solo tour but it’s not sitting up there [alone].”

During our exclusive sit-down with the velvet-voiced soul punker, Stump discussed what it’s like playing with a whole new group of guys, what Fall Out Boy might sound like when the boys get back together (he says he’ll be “surprised if we never did another record”) and why he finally caved in to tweeting. Video interview after the jump!

Stump, who sang, played guitar, piano and a teeny-tiny trumpet during his back-to-back Hotel Cafe gigs, also sat down with our friends at Buzznet and revealed the tricks he picked up while filming his “Spotlight” video and the differences between his EP Truant Wave and his forthcoming full-length album Soul Punk (which may get a late July release). Check out that interview here, then watch our own Q&A below:

Patrick mentions that he’s a big fan of Pete Wentz’s new pop outfit Black Cards, and Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley’s new metal act The Damned Things. He also assures us that there’s no bad blood between bandmates. “Bands aren’t monogamous relationships,” he says. “I didn’t marry Fall Out Boy. And by doing other things, I’m not cheating on them.”

As for being totally against Twitter at first and then changing his tune, he explains, “It becomes more of an action than an inaction to not be on Twitter. It’s almost like not having a phone at this point. Someone explained to me, it’s almost like you not going out and shaking hands [after a show]. It kind of came off as arrogant.” The real bonus of Twitter? “Food trucks.” (We could not agree more.)

So what does the producer/musician/singer/songwriter want to try and do next? “I want to try theater and proper acting,” he tells us, mentioning that he’s also writing a few scripts. “I take art seriously. I don’t want to just fuck with it and be an idiot. I don’t want the vanity project.”

As for his solo material, this isn’t a one-off thing. Says Stump: “I intend to do this hopefully forever.” We certainly hope so, too.

Check out Patrick’s official site, read his Nervous Breakdance Tumblr and follow him on Twitter, now that he’s using it and all. And head by iTunes to download Truant Wave if you haven’t already.

A cappella maestro Patrick Stump stopped by Rolling Stone‘s New York offices to perform three new songs from his debut solo album, Soul Punk, (out this month) and a Tom Waits cover of “Step Right Up”. (And one pretty funny impression of Waits to boot.) Jump below for a live, acoustic mini album sampler from Stump and tell us what you think of his tunes.

We know that these are acoustic versions of fully studio-produced tunes, but we’re totally digging listening to just Patrick and his guitar, particularly on “Love Selfish Love”.

In his interview, Patrick discusses wanting to emulate the ornate, fast-paced syncopation of Timbaland’s beats, but it’s impossible to play, since they’re computerized – so he did his best by playing all the complicated rhythms himself with instruments, one at a time. Problem solved!

As far as touching on his time in Fall Out Boy, Patrick says:

“When I look at Joe [Trohman]‘s band, The Damned Things or whatever, he would play me those songs as a demo for Fall Out Boy, and I’d be like, ‘It’s awesome, but it’s hard rock.’ There were songs I’d write and the way the band worked, my lyrics weren’t really … it just didn’t fit.”

“As far as the comparative visibility of my solo act versus the band, it’s kind of a shame the two have to ever be related… I don’t know that I was ever so comfortable with the way it was, with that level of attention. Particially because you get this feeling, you don’t want to dumb what you do down… but you don’t want to disappoint anybody, and they have these expectations. Hopefully going out as myself gives me freedom.”

As much as we enjoyed FOB, we’re excited for Stump to finally be the main dude in the spotlight.

What do you think of Stump’s solo material so far?

[Rolling Stone]

Welcome back to Friday Video Time, our alphabetical look at the last 50 years of music. This week, we’ve done the impossible and tackled the letter “X”—and here we thought “Q” was going to be the most challenging letter in this 26-week series. Jump below to see five songs from the last five decades that made today’s list. As always, if you don’t agree with our selections then tell us in the comments!

’60s: “Xmas Twist” – The Twistin’ Kings

’70s: “X-Ray Eyes” – KISS

’80s: “Xanadu” – Olivia Newton John & ELO

’90s: “X Files Theme” (techno) – Robert Miles

’00s: “XO” – Fall Out Boy

Her name is Bebe Rexha, a singer from Staten Island who has never done anything professional before joining Pete Wentz in his new band The Black Cards. And she’s got an awesome story to match her awesome name.

Wentz and producer Sam Hollander, whose worked with Katy Perry and Gym Class Heroes, met in New York when Wentz was living there while his wife Ashlee was performing in Chicago. Wentz recalls that he was really into reggae, and Hollander was into Lily Allen-type female Brit-pop, and they wanted to combine those two sounds.

When the two got inside the studio to cut the tracks, they still had no singer to bring it all together. Luckily, fate brought them Bebe Rexha, who was auditioning for a different project next door.

“I just heard this voice blasting and I said, ‘Why are we so focused on finding a quirky, British girl?’” Wentz tells Rolling Stone. “There’s somebody in the next room who has these awesome melodies and can really sing and isn’t jaded.”

Rexha, who hit the musical jackpot of working with a high profile musician with an already existing fan base, has virtually no experience in the music industry, although she does still maintain an active (although sparse) MySpace Music page. From what we’ve heard so far, we’re digging her voice, and it sounds like Wentz is being musically inspired by having a female singer.

“Fall Out Boy lyrics were vastly depressing, misogynistic kinds of stuff,” says Wentz. (He’s not kidding—here’s a sample line from a FOB tune “Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner” about a female lover: “So wear me like a locket around your throat / I’ll weigh you down, I’ll watch you choke / You look so good in blue.”) “That really doesn’t work in a band with a female singer… I’m more musically free in this project than I ever was in Fall Out Boy. Patrick [Stump] was the composer in Fall Out Boy, and this is my chance to do something completely different.”

And as far as the status of Fall Out Boy is concerned, it remains unchanged, although Wentz still claims it’s a break, not a break-up. Says Pete:

“I have no idea how long the break will be. Before American Idiot, people had kind of written off Green Day and around Rattle and Hum people had written off U2. At some points lots of bands go through this odd growth where they don’t know which direction to go in and they feel burned out. Rather than break up, it was better for everybody to get their own outlet. The world needed a break from Fall Out Boy as much as Fall Out Boy needed a break from Fall Out Boy.”

The Black Cards are putting the finishing touches on their debut album, and will plan a tour once it’s completed. Which do you think will be released first – Patrick Stump’s solo LP, or The Black Cards’ debut? Maybe Wentz and Stump can plan a co-headlining tour together just to appease their old fans?

[Rolling Stone]

Pete Wentz’s new outfit The Bl4ck C3rds scored themselves a Facebook and MySpace page, although both leave much to be desired, like a band photo or any information whatsoever. (How Iamamiwhoami of them!) True to their word, Wentz and Co. released another snippet of a new song, “Beating In My Chest,” on a password-protected Vimeo site. “So sick of the memories, thanks for everything,” the female vocalist sings on the track. “Thnks Fr Th Mmrs” reference, perhaps? In any case, the rest of the lyrics scream Wentz to us: “Sex beating in my chest, but I just wanted your love / I’m young, dumb, but you’re not the only one… I just wanted your love to come.” Click here and enter the password (July8) to hear their latest tune. [Spin]

Patrick Stump is doing his solo thing, and Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley are off in heavy metal group The Damned Things—so what’s Pete Wentz been up to during Fall Out Boy’s indefinite hiatus? Besides directing music videos and helping raise funds to fix the oil spill, Pete’s got himself a new band called Bl4ck C4rds (pronounced Black Cards, presumably). So is this FOB Vol. 2, or has Wentz gone in a completely new musical direction?

A snippet was posted over at the Bl4ck C4rds official site. We gave it a listen, and the catchy upbeat tune, led by an unknown (as of yet) female singer, has 1940s-retro influences and sounds straight out of a rock circus. It’s a bit hard to make out the lyrics to the verses, so we’re not sure if the tune includes Wentz’ patented puns and wordplay. It also almost sounds as though Pete, who is also a DJ, traded up his bass guitar for his turntables.

The unnamed bouncey tune is both similar to much of Fall Out Boy’s music on Folie A Deux (particularly “20 Dollar Nose Bleed”) and nothing like anything we’ve ever heard from Wentz before. It’s certainly a step up from he and Mark Hoppus’ unexciting collaboration “In Transit” from the Almost Alice soundtrack. We’re truly excited to see the rest of what Wentz has in store, and to find out who else is in this band.

“Next week things will appear on this site in a very controlled distribution,” Pete wrote on his blog about his new tracks. “If you enjoy it, keep coming back. If its not for you than we understand.”

What do you think of this poppy dance track? Are you excited to hear more, or just want the old FOB back?

After watching Patrick Stump’s premiere performance as a solo artist at South By Southwest Friday night, we did a double take—with his newly svelte physique, his cropped hair, his lack of hat (a sight that rarely occurs), and without Pete Wentz yacking on and on into the mic in between songs, we barely recognized the man. Then he opened his mouth, and that velvety voice we love flowed out.

Stump played a short set list of covers and new material from his forthcoming solo album while opening for Hole at the Dirty Dog Bar in Austin, Texas. Did he pull it off alone, or does the man forever belong in a band? Watch videos from Stump’s show after the jump.

Patrick Stump – “Love Selfish Love”

It’s hard to fairly judge Stump’s new tunes by watching the un-great quality of a YouTubed live performance, but we can definitely hear some potential in there: as expected, there’s a bit of funk, some blues and catchy hooks abound. The songs are nowhere near as loud and raucous as most Fall Out Boy tracks, but diehard FOB fans shouldn’t be too disappointed with Stump’s solo material—even alone on stage, Patrick’s still got swagger, and some of his lyrics (ie. “I’m not brokenhearted, I’m just kind of pissed off”) are reminiscent of Take This To Your Grave-era Wentz bon mots.

But let’s hear from someone who was squeezed up in that tiny dive bar experiencing it live. From MTV:

Stump’s big “one-man band” concept (just him, two guitars, a keyboard and organ, a drum kit, and some samplers) stumbled out of the gate, as opener “As Long As I Know I’m Getting Paid” was marred by sound problems and a general lack of rehearsal time, but things got progressively better from there. A pair of new songs (one a slinky electronic track featuring him keening “I’ve got nothing to confess,” the other a shuffling, funky number with looped drums, handclaps and scratchy guitars) got the night headed in the right direction, and Stump knew it too, loosening up and cracking a smile.

Here’s another original piece with Patrick rocking out on his Stump-o-matic:

The biggest change between this gig and what we’ve seen of Patrick before was the fact that he participated in the most stage banter we’ve heard the dude speak ever. He appeared totally at ease talking to the crowd (even if he felt extremely nervous on the inside, we couldn’t tell). We have to wonder why he remained silent for so much of his tenure with FOB, letting Pete take over talking during live shows. (Speaking of Pete, he wasn’t there, but calmed gossip mongers from thinking he skipped his bandmate’s show for bitter reasons by blogging about his whereabouts.)

There’s still no details on when Stump’s solo album will be released—in fact, probably none of his tracks have even been played inside a studio. “I feel a little bit like a Charlie Kaufman script,” said Patrick to the crowd. “I’m karaokeing songs that haven’t been recorded yet. Now I fee like Zach Galifianakis because I’m talking over piano.” It may be awhile before we can expect a full LP, but at least we can revel in these promising SXSW videos til then.

Patrick Stump – “If You Think You’re Lonely Now” by Bobby Womack

We got a video sneak peak of Patrick Stump’s solo effort, and now the smooth, golden-throated vocalist is openly discussing his forthcoming album. Stump recently chatted with Spin magazine to discuss songs (“As Long As I Know I’m Getting Paid,” a lengthy song title Pete Wentz couldn’t have penned it better himself), his influences (which range from Prince to Conan O’Brien), and his distate for Twitter. Highlights from the interview below. 

Patrick tells Spin that he’s been waiting to record a solo album for half his life, but being in one of the biggest bands on the planet kind of got in his way:

“I was going to record a solo album when I was 15 on a four-track. I started working on it, but then Fall Out Boy happened. The band was awesome and took me in a totally different direction. I don’t regret it at all, but the band delayed the record I had been planning. Ultimately, I feel like I’ve been working on the same solo record for the past 10 years.”

Patrick, a huge Prince fan all his life, admits that “Funk is my default setting” and that his album will have some swagger to it, although he “had to exercise some restraint… a good writer knows when to scratch his favorite paragraph. My favorite paragraph is always the funky one.” Will his followers be caught off guard by the new tunes coming out of their favorite Fall Out Boy singer’s mouth? Not necessarily:

“I used to think that. But I’ve grown to understand that the good side-effect of all of the information that’s swirling around these days is that everyone’s open to new things. Back in the 1980s “Walk This Way” was a crazy idea—unheard of. Now crossing into another genre is requisite for pop. Snoop Dogg has a country record, you know? I’m surprised at how nonchalantly people accept stuff like that.”

But the fact that the audience is likely to welcome a certain amount of stylistic change doesn’t mean Stump is ready to start sharing more of his private thoughts with fans. It looks like any tweeting Stump does will be saved for promotional purposes instead of personal revelations or John Mayer-style non-sequiturs. His song ”Love Selfish Love,” as well as his whole album, reflects his revulsion at our TMI-heavy celebrity culture:

“It’s sad that people really go out of their way to tell everyone everything about themselves. Our country has verbal diarrhea…. there’s no mystery, no surprise… It would be nice to go on a first date with somebody and not be able to know everything about them from their MySpace or Facebook profile. There’s no first impressions anymore. You go to a job interview and they’ll probably Google you. It’s a shame — people should play it a little closer to the chest as far as what information they release to the world. If I’m angry about something I’m not going to take to my Twitter.”

Wentz should probably heed that advice, no? Head on over to Spin for the full interview.

Lady Gaga isn’t just paying lip service to her little monsters when she says she loves nothing more than her fans; she uploaded a twitpic of her brand new “Little Monsters”  tattoo “on the arm that holds my mic… so proud.” We’re just happy she didn’t get the face of the raunchy creature from the 1989 gross-out kiddie flick “Little Monsters” tattooed on her body for all eternity. Whew.

Did You Hear?

:: So much for it being just a hiatus. Patrick Stump tells Spin, “I’m not in Fall Out Boy right now” and Pete Wentz tweets “I can’t imagine playing with FOB again.” Thnks fr th mmrs, fellas. [Spin]

:: Lest anyone think Pink faked her way through her high-and-not-so-dry performance of “Glitter In The Air” on the Grammys, the singer addressed such scurrilous rumors on Twitter: “I have never lip synched [sic] in my entire life. I’m 100% against it.” [@Pink]

:: If you thought a Mariah Carey/Courtney Love collaboration was zany enough to work, check out 5 Dream Duets Inspired By The Grammys. [Celebuzz]

:: Doppelgangers took over Facebook last week—but ever wonder who your fave musicians’ twin is? Find out here. [Spinner]

:: This week’s charity singles, “Everybody Hurts” and “We Are The World” are inspirational songs, but they’ve already been done. Is this the end of the original charity single? [MTV]

:: Joe Jonas will guest star on Brothers & Sisters. Dude’s got to do something while his older brother is enjoying married life and his younger brother is indulging his solo-career dreams. [E! Online]

Behind the jump: we try to figure out why Dan Akroyd was at the first “We Are The World” recording.

Music On TV Tonight:
:: Late Show with David Letterman (CBS) – Nneka
:: Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC) – Metric (repeat)
:: Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC) – Nick Jonas
:: Lopez Tonight (TBS) – Fabolous

VIDEO REWIND OF THE DAY: Everyone’s buzzing about the re-recording of the charity single “We Are The World” (including us!). Let’s take a look back at the 1985 version, which aimed to provide relief to African famine victims — and featured significantly fewer stars in the studio than did the crowd-sourced 2010 version.

The original recording did bring together some of the world’s biggest musicians at the time, among them Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Cyndi Lauper, and of course, Michael Jackson. (Why Ghostbusters’ Dan Aykroyd showed up, we don’t know — perhaps his history as a Blues Brother?). Whatever, it’s probably the same reason Vince Vaughn swung by for the remake. Hopefully the updated recording will be just as iconic in 25 years.

Have a great day, everyone!

We’re currently freaking out over this and severely annoyed about this, but at least there’s a little ray of sunshine in the music world today: Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump is heeding our advice and preparing his first stand-alone album. (He’d really love it if we didn’t use the term “solo.”)

The FOB frontman has already found a way to keep fans up to speed on his progress: he joined something called Twitter today (semi-reluctantly, we’re guessing, since a post on a past iteration of his website (since removed) claimed he had no interest in social networking.). At the moment, @PatrickStump‘s lone tweet is a shout-out to his newly redesigned site, which earlier this week included a then-cryptic Anais Nin quote, “And the time came when the risk it took to stay closed in a bud became more painful than the risk it took to bloom.” The quote was soon taken down and replaced with a video of a slimmed- down (and hatless!) Stump playing almost every instrument under the sun. Check out the above screencap of the Renaissance Man in action.

Writes Patrick, “I’m working on an album. I’ll be writing/producing/performing everything myself. Stay tuned.”

The social media revolution signing up for time-sucking Web toys isn’t the only thing Patrick has reconsidered: when Idolator arranged a meeting of the musical minds between Patrick and producer Butch Walker a little over a year ago, Stump seemed uncertain that he would ever record his own non-Fall Out Boy album.

“I go back and forth on the idea of solo material because on the one hand my band allows me to be so hands on with our music that it really stretches the limits of the term ‘collaboration.’ On the other hand I occasionally write lyrics and I’ve never had an outlet for any of that. If I made a solo record though I don’t think it would be as soul as everyone assumes it would be. I don’t have a clue what type of music it would be and it’d have to meet my band’s approval anyway. I don’t know. Probably not going to do a solo record ever.”

We’re sure whatever Patrick comes up with, Pete, Andy and Joe (who all have their own side projects) would approve. And although we’ll miss his FOB bros twirling around on either side and in back of him, we have faith that Stump’s solo effort will live up to the hype.

Twenty-one seasons in, The Simpsons continues to shine as a beacon of smart, funny TV. But it is also one of our favorite cultural fun-house mirrors, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t spend a moment looking back on the decade of pop that was through the prism that is America’s best dysfunctional animated family.

As we usher in 2010, we share our Top 10 picks for the best pop star appearances on The Simpsons over the last ten years (with “pop” being v-e-r-y loosely defined in order to accommodate our faves). Our list is in chronological order, making it all the easier to see how music—and the show—evolved through the 00s (starting with bubblegum pop, ending with edgier acts). Is anyone surprised that Bart, Homer, Marge Lisa and the gang have had longer careers than some of their guests?

Britney Spears – “The Mansion Family” (2000)

(Starts at 1:25.) Britney Spears appeared in a cameo as herself during the height of her fame, donned in her gym class couture “Baby… One More Time” garb. Although Brit never made another trip to Springfield, Maggie picked up a few of her tricks over the years.

‘N Sync – “New Kids on the Blecch” (2001)

Justin Timberlake’s long since left his boy-band years behind, which means he’s waaaay overdue for another appearance on the show (and given more to do than just say “word”). If only he could find the time between SNL digital shorts.

Blink 182 – “Barting Over” (2003)

Blink’s cameo was pretty brief, but there’s truly no one better to cast as Tony Hawk’s house band than the (reunited) pop-punk trio.

“Weird Al” Yankovic – Three Gays of the Condo (2003)

“Weird Al” not only provides a Simpson-ized take on “Jack and Diane,” but continues his song well into the credits. Can Weird Al move permanently to Springfield? He’d surely fit in with the rest of the locals.

50 Cent – “Pranksta Rap” (2005)

Fiddy gives aspiring rapper Bart some good advice – but only because he thinks it counts as community service.

Fantasia – “A Star is Torn” (2005)

Fantasia (the only musician on this list who didn’t appear as herself) plays a finalist in a singing competition, but in this version, she doesn’t win. Fantasia’s the only Idol personality to make a guest appearance on the show other than Simon Cowell. What are you waiting for, Carrie Underwood? An invitation?

White Stripes – “Jazzy and the Pussycats” (2006)

(Starts at :25.) In this episode, budding drummer Bart runs directly into the White Stripes—literally. A great homage to the Michel Gondry-directed video “Hardest Button to Button.”

Ludacris – “You Kent Always Say What You Want” (2007)

Ludacris appeared as himself appearing as a bottle of toothpaste in a commercial. Hey, he handled this gig better than his role in Gamer. (Apparently there aren’t enough Ludacris fans still out there, since this is the best quality vid we could find uploaded on the net.)

Green Day – The Simpsons Movie (2007)

Green Day kicked off The Simpsons Movie by playing a show for the citizens of Springfield—and then sinking à la the Titanic atop a barge. That’s what you get for trying to bring up the environment, you do-gooding rockstars!

Fall Out Boy – “Lisa the Drama Queen” (2008)

The emo-pop quartet’s name is a direct reference to Radioactive Man’s sidekick, and there’s no better way to repay the show that gave them their moniker than by covering The Simpsons‘ theme song. Pete, Patrick and the gang weren’t Simpson-ized, but the episode centered around the concept of folie à deux, which (not) coincidentally was the title of FOB’s album at the time.

Aspiring stars of the 2010s, take note: even as it heads toward 30, this show is one of our biggest public stages. If you can’t land yourself an appearance in Springfield, you haven’t made it.

Did somebody finally make good on their Internet threats to punch Pete Wentz in the face? The Fall Out Boy dude posted some creepy photos on his blog showing his face bloody and cut as though he were auditioning for a Fight Club sequel. Always one to drum up some mystery, Pete also included a multiple choice test for readers to guess what happened, rather than just flat-out spilling the beans. The 21-choice quiz, as well as one bonus bloody pic, after the jump.

Yesterday Pete tweeted: “Weirdness is happening in my life right now,” following it up an hour later with, “Holy f I look like frankenstein.” So what happened? Perhaps it included Decaydance labelmate Gabe Saporta of Cobra Starship might have an idea, as he wrote to Wentz: “@petewentz I love that the stewardess thought we were a gay couple b/c I was cleaning the blood off yr face. Hope the stitches hold up.”

Here are our provided clues, courtesy of Wentz:

Choose your own excuse to advance the story!!!

My face was badly bludgeoned because….

A) Latenight game of “face jousting” gone horribly right.

B) Called Perez a gay slur.

C) Called Will.I.Am “Perez.”

D) In a Nyquil-induced haze I confused my own reflection with my estranged brother, David Archuletta. Ran into mirror full-speed.

E) I was wasted. You should see the other guy.

F) Forgot to thaw turkey before deep-frying.

G) Realized my sex appeal was getting in the way of my art, like Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.

H) Watched “Fight Club” in like, super hi-def dude.

I) Bored.

J) Overzealous “Face Insurance” salesman just trying to make a point.

K) Realized Rollingstone said i was the r. patz of 2005. What year is it now? Im fucked.

L) Literally fought for a Midtown reunion.

M) Fell for the old “face-wash/sulfuric acid switcheroo.”

N) Watched “The View” without protection.

O) Starring in community theatre retelling of “Edward Scissorhands.”

P) Emo “self” Mutilation.

Q) Bathroom door.

R) “Hiatus” is over or has officially begun. Head hurts to much to remember.

S) Read and believed all the comments on the internet. Followed the instructions.

T) Lease up on old face.

U) Keep meaning to cut Bronx’s nails.

you decide.

Our guess? Probably the first option—late-night face jousting seems right up Pete’s alley, especially since he’s been known to willingly fling himself into dangerous situations where his body plays the victim. (Although we can’t count high enough to tell you how much money we’d lay down to see a community theatre version of Edward Scissorhands starring Pete.)

Remember when the Jonas Brothers unveiled their album title and we were all “LOL, that reminds us of The Hush Sound”? Or when Miley Cyrus unveiled “The Climb” and we were briefly terrified that she had covered No Doubt? Well, because we love to argue, we cobbled together several batches of pairs of songs with the same (or very similar!) names, pitting artist against artist and tune against tune. May the better song win. And by win, we mean we hope it lodges itself in the right hemisphere of your brain for the rest of the day.

Just a few days after we posted our item chock full of suggestions for how the members of Fall Out Boy should spend their hiatus comes the news that FOB’s Andy Hurley and Joe Trohman have teamed up with members of Anthrax and Every Time I Die to create their own metal supergroup, The Damned Things. Kick ass name.

As of right now, six-person strong The Damned Things’ (consisting of Trohman and Hurley from FOB; Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano from Anthrax; and Keith Buckley and David Karon from Every Time I Die) website URL redirects you to a pretty sparse MySpace page, though it’s sure to fill up quickly—according to Rock Sounds, the band has already written fifteen songs and hopes to enter the studio this December.

We’re calling it now—supergroups are definitely the musical trend of 09. The Damned Things joins the super-ranks of Them Crooked Vultures (including members of Foo Fighters, Led Zepplin, and Queens of the Stone Age), Apparatjik (Coldplay, a-ha and Mew), and Tinted Windows (Smashing Pumpkins, Fountains of Wayne, Cheap Trick and Hanson), just to name a few.

We’re not entirely sure what happened to Hurley’s side project Burning Empires, but we’re fully supportive of all these musicians stepping outside the groups they normal play with so they can expand their musical horizons, and in Andy and Joe’s case, scratch that metal itch we know they’ve had for awhile. Just don’t be gone too long, kay?

So Fall Out Boy is taking a break. Or maybe they aren’t, and it’s really just a sugar-coated break-up? They’re denying it’s anything of the sort, so we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, but in the meantime we have a few suggestions for how Pete, Patrick & Co. should invest their free time:

Pete Wentz
Pete has enough going on in his life already besides being in a band – he has his baby Bronx, his wife, and a move to New York now that Ashlee’s set to star on Broadway in Chicago. Though Ash is only performing for a limited engagement, Pete could use a break from being pals with the paparazzi in LA and re-locate to Manhattan with his fam. Bonus: he can more closely manage  Angels & Kings—isn’t a greatest-hits collection an occasion to add more FOB-themed drinks to the menu?

His Clandestine Industries fashion line is doing well (and not just on little fangirls who wear their bat hoodies every day until they’re old enough to get the logo tattooed on their ankle). Pete could always focus on another art gallery exhibit like last year’s “Without You, I’m Not Me” (co-created with Gym Class Heroes’ Travis McCoy), which seemed like the start of something worthwhile.

His short-lived project to bring music videos back to MTV (with FNMTV) didn’t last long in a schedule that seems to be desirous of a 25th hour to re-run The Hills, but we’d like to see him return to curating music somewhere. Hello, Spike TV?

Joe Trohman
Joe is going back to his metal roots and working on a side project, Wentz revealed in an interview with Music Radar, and Trohman even discussed returning to metal back when the band was promoting Folie à Deux. Probably a good move for Joe, who admitted that Fall Out Boy’s music isn’t even really his scene and he just does it “for fun”:

“I write a lot of metal on the side, stuff I’ve been demo-ing out. I’m trying to work on some stuff with other people in that realm. A lot of what we’ve come up with is kind of like a dichotomy between some Sabbath and some Kyas. But, like heavy, really heavy. I think that’s just like what I grew up playing and more comfortable for me. Fall Out Boy, I guess, it’s just something I do for fun.”

We’d love to see Joe shine in another band for awhile—is it so much of a stretch to think he’s a David Grohl-in-waiting? That’s pretty much how we see Joe, a star musician mostly pushed off to the side.

Andy Hurley
Andy is seemingly pulling a Wentz recently, creating his own clothing line F*CKCITY (asterisk ours) as well as starting a record label to go along with it. We know Andy’s got an ear for music underneath that coat of tattoos. It’d be interesting to see what other bands he lifts out of the Chicago hardcore scene.

He’s also currently touring with his hardcore band Burning Empires, who performed their first show just this month. Sounds about right for Andy. Keep it up, brotha.

Patrick Stump
A solo Stump album is at the very top of my list of Patrick’s to-do list. You can tell he’s itching to stretch out from being in an easily and often mocked “S/scene” band into being a universally respected singer/songwriter. Patrick has already worked with practically everyone in music (Jay-Z, Lupe Fiasco, Lil Wayne, Babyface, Akon, John Mayer, Debbie Harry just off the top of our head), and he’d have huge acts lining up to provide guest vocals in case he was too shy to shoulder an album completely on his own. We’ve already seen him play a solo gig for a charity concert at his alma mater, so he’s more than capable of going it alone – though, admittedly, it is a bit weird seeing him without Pete and Joe twirling around on either side of him.

If a solo album just isn’t forthcoming, he could always focus on acting, a discipline where he surely has room to grow.

Directing, however… not so much. We checked out Patrick’s directorial debut, the short Moustachette, which features Yellowcard frontman Ryan Key and a super-brief appearance by Wentz, and let’s just say Patrick should stick to what he does best during his time-off from FOB—not directing.

What the hell: “SINGED strands of Michael Jackson’s hair that were burned a Pepsi advert are coming up for sale…. The hair was preserved after the accident in 1984 by [the ad's executive producer Ralph] Cohen and the 12 strands are clearly singed.” Add these preseved tresses—expected to fetch about £1,000 at auction—to the locks from Elvis Presley and Pete Wentz that are up for sale, and you’ve officially got a trend. Although this entrant is more macabre than the other two. And it comes with its own account of how the hairs landed in the previous owner’s possession!

“And then, as Michael on his cue, was supposed to come down the stairs the explosion went off and the first thing I noticed was – he was about half way down the stairs – and I noticed flame emanating from his hair.


“And it took me a moment to register what exactly was happening because there was so much lights and so many different things go on sic] it was a little confusing but I noticed his hair was on fire and I immediately rushed out from my position.


“I pulled my jacket off as I was running and proceeded to, when I reached him, put it over his head.”

No word for when Cohen saw the dollar signs in front of his eyes, but presumably it was after he got his jacket back.


Jackson’s burnt hair up for sale [The Sun]
Michael Jackson Pepsi Commercial (LIVE) [YouTube]
Earlier: Hair from the heads of Elvis Presley and Pete Wentz goes up for sale

A “large quantity” of the late Elvis Presley’s hair—shown at left in all its tufted glory—is expected to fetch between $8,000 and $12,000 at an auction taking place this Sunday in Chicago. The hair supposedly came from Presley’s shaving of his head when he joined the Army in 1958—meaning that, yes, the locks up for bid are 50 years old. Mmm, crunchy! For those of you who want a lock of a famous musician’s hair but are on a bit of a budget—or are looking for tresses of a more recent vintage—$130 (and fleet fingers) can possibly net you among other things a lock of Pete Wentz’s hair, salvaged from Mark Hoppus shaving off Wentz’s “emo haircut” during Fall Out Boy’s show at Madison Square Garden last Sunday. [via Reuters / icecreamhdaches]

ARTIST: Fall Out Boy
TITLE: “Alpha Dog”
WEB DEBUT: Oct. 12, 2009


ONE-LISTEN VERDICT: In preparation for next month’s release of an 18-track greatest-hits package, Fall Out Boy have released “Alpha Dog,” a fleshed-out version of a track that first appeared on the ziptape that the band released in the runup to last year’s release of Folie A Deux. Back then, I said that the snippet offered up by the mix was “stridently dancey”; the full track packs a pretty big wallop, with Patrick Stump’s voice front-and-center and a frenetic guitar line pulling the proceedings along. This track would have definitely fit in on Folie, but I’m kind of glad that it got held back until now, what with the band taking a break for a little while.


WHERE TO HEAR IT: The always-reliable Bananas Music Club has a stream, as does the band’s official site, which has reverted back to its Take This To Your Grave-era design in honor of the forthcoming retrospective.


Earlier: Fall Out Boy Have The Ticket