Pierce the Veil vs. Fall Out Boy: No One Wants to Be Defeated

But up and coming pop-punksters Pierce the Veil aren’t all that excited or impressed, because they’ve already got their own version of “Beat It” that they’ve been boasting as part of their live show repertoire for almost a year, and offering for free downloads on their MySpace page since early '08. “It was definitely one of the worst days when we were on tour, and somebody woke me up and [said], ‘Dude, Fall Out Boy just covered ‘Beat It,’” explains vocalist/guitarist Vic Fuentes. “I was so pissed, I knew there was no way we could compete with it because obviously they’re gonna push it hard and it’s gonna be huge. ... We were all just really bummed.”

But as Pierce the Veil continue to rise in popularity, hitting major festival circuits from The Bamboozle Left to a summer-long stint on this year’s Warped Tour, Fuentes remains optimistic. “I think at this point we’re still gonna play it. There’s this whole ‘whose is better’ type deal going on, and every day there's at least 10 kids who comment us like, ‘I just found out Fall Out Boy cover “Beat It” ---f*ck that, your guys’ is so much better!’ It’s kind of fun, so I think we’re gonna keep playing it and we’ll be playing it on Warped Tour.”

As music scenes across the boards remain over-saturated with so many new artists emerging every minute, is it really that surprising that two covers of the same song in a similar fashion can be born of the same scene around the same time? When asked if he thinks it’s just honestly coincidental, Fuentes replied, “It’s always weird to think about a [popular] band actually knowing who your band is. I have no idea if those guys have even heard of us before, but it’s definitely hard to say.”