* Don’t bother ** Worth a listen ***Turn it up ****Buy it *****Exceptional

You get the idea that somewhere, deep beneath the superficial image, pop punks Fall Out Boy are more than they might seem. Their breakthrough album, From Under the Cork Tree, proved they were masters of the emo-punk anthem, but their go-get-‘em sound glossed over the brilliant sardonics and self-deprecation of their lyrics, which their over-the-top titles could only allude to.

Now, several calculated moves later — the expansion of bassist and mastermind Pete Wentz’s record label, the wildfire popularity of Vegas side project Panic! At the Disco, and a nude photo “leak” à la Paris Hilton that was perhaps the most ill-concealed publicity stunt in recent memory — the Chicago boys have come to take over the charts again. You know the drill. Their new release is nothing short of what you expected, but probably not much more either.

Infinity on High, which ironically spans 45 minutes, attempts a new creative direction, gets too insecure, then pulls back to its comfort zone — pseudo-hardcore punk and self-conscious emoting that makes you, if nothing else, feel a little bit better about yourself.

When Fall Out Boy does go out on a limb, the results are usually something worthwhile. The album starts interestingly enough — a spoken intro by Young Hov himself (FOB sold out to Jay-Z’s Island Def Jam label) on “Thriller.” Perhaps the most different song they’ve done, “The Take Over, The Break’s Over” has “frontman” Patrick Stump wailing Maroon 5-style over a clever guitar/drum beat punctuated by clapping.

Lead single “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race,” demonstrates a slightly more experimental side to the band, incorporating an R&B-style beat with a pop-punk chorus and Gospel-style bridge. The most interesting thing about the song is its scathing allusions to brain child Panic!, which mastermind Wentz clearly didn’t expect to overshadow his own main project.

Exhibitionist and resident smartass Wentz expresses his jealousy yet takes credit for the band’s success, with lines like “I am an arms dealer / fitting you with weapons in the form of words / don’t care which side wins / as long as the room keeps singing, that’s just the business I’m in.”

The album proceeds for a couple tracks that fail to surpass or do anything differently than anything on their last album.

Stump tests out his ballad singing chops on “Golden,” to moderate success, which concludes the first half of the album. The sinister “Thnks fr th Mmrs” kicks off the second half, which leads into a handful of tracks that seem to pick up where Panic! left off. More clever titles ensue, concluding with the fascinating “You’re Crashing, But You’re No Wave.” The rounds itself out with closing track “I’ve Got All This Ringing in My Ears and None on My Fingers,” which actually probably says more in the title than in the actual song.

All in all, Infinity is enough of a departure to not alienate the mainstream fans, but probably not enough of one to turn anyone onto them that wasn’t already hooked by “Dance, Dance.” It surpasses A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out just enough to eclipse Panic!, but is it enough to put Fall Out Boy back on top? We’ll see.

— Jeff Tripoli