I don’t really believe in guilty pleasures, so I feel no reason to hide the fact that I kinda like Fall Out Boy behind an “oh, but I’m sooo ashamed!!” Not to say that I was a huge fan, but I thought they had a few good songs and were certainly capable of transcending that “emo band of the moment” tag that they had when they got really popular four or five years ago.

While Pete Wentz was the FOB member that got all the media attention (I guess that’s what happens when you broadcast pictures of your knob on the internet), I was more intrigued by lead singer Patrick Stump. There was something about the guy that interested me-maybe it was the fact that while Wentz seemed like a total scenester/fame-whore, Stump came across as an actual musician (and yes, I know that Wentz wrote most of the lyrics to FOB’s songs). He’s certainly was one of the more unique vocalists to come out of that whole movement. Once I realized that he was a major R&B fan, it all sort of clicked for me.

Anyway, Fall Out Boy is either on hiatus or broken up. I don’t know (and honestly don’t care) if Wentz is recording a solo record or not, but I clicked on Stump’s website not too long ago and was blown away by what I saw and heard. A minute and ten seconds of Stump playing guitar. And bass. And drums. And keyboards. And various percussion instruments. And a trumpet? Never mind that Stump was playing a solid funk-rock groove AND he appears to have gone through some sort of physical transformation, dropping some Oprah-style poundage. The instrumental proficiency alone got my attention.

I’ve got no idea when his record is coming out, but I can guarantee you that without hearing a note that I’ll be picking it up when it does. Something tells me that it’s gonna be a lot better than anyone has the right to assume. BTW, the video on his site has been replaced with him performing at South by Southwest a couple weeks back. You can check out the video I referred to earlier right here…