A band with a connection to Ashlee Simpson was never going to get a fair run in these pages. But that’s even more the case when the band in question is Fall Out Boy, a chart-topping, music-empire building, teen-girl worshipped nu-punk outfit that sports four bad haircuts.

If you’re not familiar with the whining vocals of Patrick Stump, or the formulaic guitar riffs of this music machine, you may have been lost at sea (in other news: there’s a global flu pandemic caused by pigs).

Named after, but far less entertaining than, the yellow cartoon superhero from The Simpsons, the Chicago-based foursome have had disgusting success with their 2007 chart-topping album Infinity on High, which features their most successful songs to date: Thnks fr th Mmrs (notable for having a title without vowels) and This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race, which apparently voices bassist and Ashlee Simpson hubby Pete Wentz’s growing consternation with the emo scene (we can at least agree on that). In comparison to that multi-platinum, two million-plus seller, 2008’s follow up Folie a Deux, featuring the singles I Don’t Care and America’s Sweethearts, has failed to match the success of its predecessor despite faring better at a critical level. However, their quest for world domination has hardly been derailed, and the next stop is Macau.

So are they worth getting on the ferry for? Well, if you’re a fan of the Illinois band, you’ve probably already got your ticket, jumping around, shrieking and telling your other teenage friends how much you’re so going to die if Pete Wentz looks in your direction. If you’re not, the previous sentence should have made up your mind for you.

Michael Guan

Fall Out Boy play Cotai Arena on July 19.