DC Fuse

Growing up is never easy to do in the land of punk-pop -- or, to use the dreaded three-letter word, "emo" -- but Fall Out Boy do a pretty good job of evolving on this, the follow-up to their breakthrough, {|Under the Cork Tree|}. The foursome waste little time in serving notice that the times have a-changed, bringing in {|Jay-Z|} to introduce the improbably catchy opener, "Thriller" -- a tune that suggests the Foo Fighters tussling with Tom Petty at a high-class strip club. While Hova's appearance is just a cameo, a funky vibe permeates much of Infinity On High, as evidenced by the swinging wink-fest "The Take Over, the Break's Over" and the giddily sex-crazed "I'm Like a Lawyer with the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off," the latter produced by R&B master Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. Yes, they tend to their roots here and there, tossing off short, sharp, hook-filled pogo-inducers like "You're Crashing, but You're No Wave," but it's abundantly clear that the boys have got no intention of lingering in the moshpit long enough to get bruised -- or, for that matter, bored. That cheerful restlessness is most unmistakable on "I've Got All This Ringing in My Ears and None on My Fingers," a horn-driven blast of pure pop with an anthemic infectiousness that's one part vintage Bon Jovi and one part Scissor Sisters -- a combination as addictive as it is unlikely. If you're doing the math, this one is intoxicating to the infinite power.