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Fall Out Boy Reflect On 'American Beauty/American Psycho': "This Is A Really Important Record"

Fall Out Boy hasn't released a new album in nearly two years, but now the wait is finally over for their loyal legions of Overcast KidsAmerican Beauty/American Psycho, the band's sixth disc, is set to drop next Tuesday, and VH1 got an advance listen while rubbing shoulders with the band in NYC! The guys have had a busy year, most recently driving through Florida playing radio station festivals. But now they're taking a night to reflect on their work— and celebrate!

Friday night, those affiliated with Fall Out Boy and their upcoming album —members of Universal Music, Island Records, publishers, and marketing executives— gathered in New York City's Lower East Side at a local bar called The Late Late. Managers and representatives mingled and sipped whiskey and gingers while waiting for the guests of honor to arrive.

"Yeah, they'll most likely be here," a marketing executive speculated. "Oh, actually, that's them."

And there they were. Fashionably late to their own listening party, Pete Wentz, Patrick Stump, Andy Hurley, and Joe Trohman swiftly and secretly waded through the packed bar. Unnoticed at first, Pete and Patrick got up on a slightly elevated platform to thank all those in attendance for their support throughout the album-making process.

Pete Wentz playing some tunes @thelatelate last night #FallOutBoy #AlbumReleaseParty #LateLateNYC

A photo posted by @jamesdmorrissey on Jan 10, 2015 at 1:46am PST

"When you can do one thing okay, you sometimes want to fall into this habit of becoming like a dolphin that's like, 'I'm gonna do the trick, just give me the f-ckin' fish,'" Pete said, referring to the album-making process. "We wanted to make a record that was important to us, but at the same time, we have to fight on two fronts."

These "two fronts" refer to the early 2000's characterization of Fall Out Boy as emo versus their more recent image as a pop/rock band.  Though never "gold-plated critical darlings," Wentz acknowledges the band's legacy as one of the most prominent emo bands to emerge over a decade ago. But as their sound continue to evolve, they are now somewhat divorced from that premature classification.

"Our legacy's important to us, but we want to show people that you can play rock and roll in stadiums and amphitheaters and you can play music on those same stages that's currently being played on the radio. And that's a pretty f-cking hard thing to do. Thank you to everyone here who was involved in making that happen. This is a really important record."

"When we travel," Patrick added, "one of the things that's crazy to hear is that a lot of bands have a lot of complaints about the people they work with. We're pretty happy with everyone we work with, and I know there's so many of you here."

@falloutboy listening party at the bar this weekend to launch their new album! #les #falloutboy #redbull #nightlife #whiskey #weekend #music #newyorkcity #NYC A photo posted by The Late Late (@thelatelate) on Jan 11, 2015 at 11:36am PST

A brief applause, and American Beauty/American Psycho began playing straight through. As Pete said, the record is a really important one for the band. It marks a chance for them to revive themselves as "Top 40 Survivors," as Rolling Stone put it.

The album has also given Fall Out Boy a new outlook on music. With this album, and in the spirit of the new year, the band hopes to approach music with a level of confidence they might not have had before. As Pete wrote in an article for Billboard, "2015 is our chance to be bold."

Check out some of the photos from the event, and watch Pete Wentz talk about the band's gladiator-inspired video for their single "Centuries."

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[Photo: Getty Images]