Fall Out Boy decided to ring in the New Year with a new album, American Beauty/ American Psycho, and it’s a great first step for 2015 albums. After releasing Save Rock and Roll in 2013, Pete Wentz, Patrick Stump and the rest of the boys decided to “save” a multitude of other genres with their second album (and sixth overall) since their hiatus between 2009-2013.

American Beauty/American Psycho Music Review

Prior to the new album’s Jan. 20 release, Stump said that the album’s title comes from the 1970 Grateful Dead album, and the 1991 Bret Easton Ellis novel. “There are some nods to a lot of cultures…and the only thing we wanted to try differently on this record was just I wanted if you skip around at any point in the songs you know which record you are listening to,” he said.

As soon as you listen to the first song, “Irresistible” the horns and synths stand out as if playing on the sound system of a sporting event and it pumps you up for the second song, the titular track. “American Beauty/American Psycho” is immediately reminiscent of some of Fall Out Boy’s earliest “emo punk” tracks during the “Sugar We’re Going Down” and “Dance Dance” era.

The singles of the album, “Centuries” and “Uma Thurman” are fun tracks. “Centuries” sounds more like the modern Fall Out Boy pop-punk sound they employed on their last two albums. And “Uma Thurman”, which aside from referencing the actress, also sounds like it could have been playing in her famous diner dance scene in Pulp Fiction with John Travolta. However, the last four tracks are what truly make this a great album.

‘Fourth of July”, the album’s lone true Modern Rock track combines a sad story of heartbreak, with the high energy sound of the previous tracks that surprisingly works. The 80’s funk inspired track “Favorite Record” seems almost if it was written as a prequel to “Fourth of July.” “Immortals” reeks of a highly potent Pop, Electronic, Dubstep and Bollywood-inspired sound and was utilized in the Disney movie Big Hero 6. Lastly, “Twin Skeletons” rides the album’s high-energy climax with the chant of “Hold On” as if to suggest more but it leaves you at the edge of your seat.

Fall Out Boy does not disappoint with AB/AP, and it shows that even with six albums they can still find something new to churn out with positive results.

Buy American Beauty / American Psycho here: