The Chicago-based emo-punk band, Fall Out Boy brought out their first major label EP, “Take This to Your Grave,” in the fall of 2003 and it’s about time they got some recognition. With influences like Green Day, the CD is full of loud and energetic guitar riffs, a melodic bass to carry engaging drumbeats, and a strong vocalist leading the way.

They follow the emo trend by implementing ironic titles and pounding beats to form love songs ranging from “Grand Theft Autumn” to “Homesick at Space Camp.” Writing their own songs, Fall Out Boy releases poetic lines such as “Maybe he won’t find out what I know: you were the last good thing about this part of town” and “Tonight the headphones will deliver you the words that I can’t say” in the previously mentioned songs (“Grand Theft” and “Homesick” respectively). Even though they follow this all-too-often-used formula, they retain one of the most unique sounds to come on the scene in the past three years.

Recently, their video for “Grand Theft Autumn” got airtime on Fuse, but it’s just a sample of the raw energy and emotion that bursts through every song. Still, listeners shouldn’t think that every song is about love, at least not the usual “mushy” lovesick emo-love. “Saturday” is a fast paced song that is based on the bands travels and remembering parties with lyrics like “I read about the afterlife, but I never really lived more than an hour” and “Saturday, when these open doors are open ended.”

Fall Out Boy also engages scathing lyrics like “Let’s play this game called ‘when you catch fire,’ I wouldn’t piss to put you out” from “Tell that Mick He Just Made My List” and “I want to hate you half as much as I hate myself, but you know that I could crush you with my voice” from “The Pros and Cons of Breathing.” Without turning into a bipolar album, FOB mixes multiple (often conflicting) emotions to create a record that is compelling enough to listen through and then replay a couple times.

Quoted from a DVD biography, the bassist Peter Wentz said the band “wanted to make an album that people wouldn’t skip through.” They’ve certainly brought out an energetic and emotional mix that can be played from start to finish, something “to take to your grave.”