Fall Out Boy

For a while, the metaphorical road to success was a smooth one for Fall Out Boy, the highly acclaimed emo-pop-punk four-piece from suburban Chicago. The band's demo tape started a bidding war. Its first album, Take This to Your Grave, was released by the Florida indie Fueled by Ramen, but paid for by Island Records. Island money allowed the group to record at Butch Vig's Madison, Wisconsin studio. It also bought a van, a trailer, and a video.

But in January, on the way to New York City for the video shoot, the figurative fast track got a little slippery.

"Around 7 a.m. in Pennsylvania, we hit ice and slid into a forest, and destroyed our van and trailer," group leader Peter Wentz says. "The van is demolished, but everybody ended up being all right. Like, we got cuts and a few bruises. We sat out in the snow and waited for the police to come, and then went and sat at a rest stop for most of the day. Then we rented a U-Haul and picked up all our equipment and drove home."

Ah, the rock-and-roll life.

Now, after canceling a few dates, haggling with its insurance company, and finally obtaining a replacement van, Fall Out Boy's ready to pick up where it left off -- a nationwide tour with Mest before traveling to Europe for the first time in March.

And the interrupted video?

"We ended up doing it in Detroit, like, last week," Wentz says. "Like randomly. Yeah, that was really cool."