What? MCR is evolving!

My Chem have eliminated their past image and sound with ‘Danger Days’

By Angela Espinoza,
Arts Reviewer

s I’m sure some of you
remember, I wrote an article
last week focusing on the

rise and fall of the emo genre. To
clarify, emo is a descendent of punk
coupled with emotional lyrics — not
the soundtrack to your little sister’s
problems. Plenty of garbage has come
out of the genre, but some bands
epitomize it in a far more appropriate
way. One of those bands is My
Chemical Romance, and yes, you can
move over to that suddenly appealing
next page.

There’s no point introducing
the band to you after the radio wave
frenzy that was 2006’s The Black
Parade. MCR’s is a history spanning
ten long years, and in that time, each
album has improved critically from
the last, along with their sound. Their
latest album, Danger Days: The True
Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, is so
far their best — to the point where you
can barely recognize them. .

Danger Days is another concept
album, but completely opposite
TBP in every way. In the year 2019,
the world has changed significantly

with the Skynet-like company BLi
Industries, or BLind, taking over.

In California, a colourful resistance
has started, calling themselves the
‘Killjoys’. One by one, they’re
taking down BLind’s army, striving
to survive in hopes for a better
tomorrow. It is asking a bit much to
have older listeners enter this world
MCR have created, partly because
they’ ve intentionally continued
aiming at a younger audience. After
all, it gives kids something to be less
angry about. But with even MCR sick
of their Black Parade image, they
turned to Iggy Pop & The Stooges as
a way to help themselves grow and
improve.

The album opens with a
Warriors-style radio skit (“Look
Alive, Sunshine”) by a DJ named ‘Dr.
Death Defying’ (Steven Montafio,
AKA Steve, Righ?). This is followed
by the first single, “Na Na Na”, the
annoyingly catchy, nonsensical party
starter for the rest of Danger Days.
We’re then lead into “Bulletproof
Heart”, which begins softly only to
build up into a fantastically fun song
perfectly summarizing the adventures
of the ‘Killjoys’. The second single,
“SING”, is nothing special; not by

any means bad, just one more pop-
ballad. Meanwhile, “Planetary (GO!)”
is a power-pop song with a Daft Punk
feel meant to turn your brain off and
jump around to. “The Only Hope

For Me Is You” suffers from similar
problems to “SING”, although it’s
definitely more energized.

Dr. Death Defying returns to
give us a “Traffic Report”, where
we’re lead into “Party Poison”.
Way’s said it was meant to be a
straight up dance song; this is so,
but with ‘NewsAGoGo’ (Airi Isoda)
screaming at you in Japanese during
breaks to keep you going. Then “Save
Yourself, I’11 Hold Them Back”
comes in; one of the more rock-heavy
songs, best described by Dan Martin
of NME as “A massive... love letter
to fans”. “S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W”,
oddly enough, is an arm-swaying
arena song with some serious
Beatles-style guitar and bass. This —
is followed by “Summertime”, a
beautiful, nostalgic love song in the
vain of Smashing Pumpkins’ softer
tunes. After that sweet transition,
we’re brought “DESTROYA”; an
angrily campy, Korn-esque plead for
anarchy. “The Kids From Yesterday”
is a soft-rock piece the group wrote

 

more for themselves; they’ ve grown
up considerably since they began,
and this is the song on the album
that definitely proves it. The Doctor
then signs off with Star Spangled
Banner, which is cut short by the
final track. “Vampire Money” opens
with Way asking his fellow members
— guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero
and bassist Mikey Way — if “they’re
ready”. What follows is literally a
Twilight-bashing, ‘screw you’ to
conformity, Costello-based party song
that’s just simply epic.

No one will blame you for
turning a blind eye to Danger
Days with MCR being so heavily
connected to their ex-image. But four
years have passed since then; a lot
has happened (including the departure
of drummer Bob Bryar), and it truly
does show. This really is a different
band we’re hearing, and while not the
most original work in recent years,
I’m willing to say it’s one of the best
albums of 2010. Basically, if you’re
willing to give it a try, then go for it.
4/5

 

Freelance Whales beached at The Biltmore

Sugary sweet music perfect for the season

By Cody Klyne, Arts Editor

Last Wednesday, despite the presence
and persistent threat of snow, saw
another great night of live music at
The Biltmore. For little more than the
price of a movie ticket, folks got out
of the cold and onto the floor of the
Cabaret in support of the opening act,
Pepper Rabbit, and headliner for the
night, Freelance Whales.

While I like to think of myself as
being pretty “hip” or “in the know”
when it comes to this sort of thing,
I'd be lying if I told you I’d heard of
Pepper Rabbit before they took to the
stage. That said, I have no problem
admitting my ignorance, especially
when it turns out to be something
that surprises me in a good way.
Hailing from sunny Los Angeles,
California, this two-piece (three .
when performing live) instantly got
my attention and wasted no time in

making a positive impression.

Given the size of The Biltmore,
filling the space with sound isn’t
exactly a feat in itself. What is
interesting however is how easily
Pepper Rabbit pulled rich, deep,
downright lush noise out of the
closet-sized venue. The inexplicable
nature of the cavernous, haunting
sounds I was hearing made me think
of Mary Poppins magical bottomless
bag. I could close my eyes and
become enveloped in echoes fit for
a space twice the size. While I admit
that my excitement at the time was
bolstered by a combination of a lack
of sleep, too much caffeine, and the
contents of a stack of PBR cans, I feel
pretty confident in saying that Pepper
Rabbit far and away exceeded my
nonexistent expectations at the time.

. Touring in support of their
recently released full-length CD,
Weathervanes, Freelance Whales,

who are probably best known for
songs: ‘Hannah,’ ‘Generator “ First
Floor,’ and ‘Generator “ Second
Floor’, represent a bit of a melting pot
of a lot of the things that I love, and
hate, about recent pop and popular
bands.

Starting with the good; they’re
a fun band to watch live and played
to expectations. With most all of the
five members of the band teaming
up to address the vocal-situation for
the night, there were more than a few
moments when I had to snap myself
out of my slow-motion gyration
dance trance in an effort to pick out
each voice individually. That’s how
well their voices meshed together.
Plucky and energetic, their stage
presence was subtle enough not to
intimidate, while being alive enough
to get the crowd feeling alright.

For the bad, and I guess this
speaks to a larger issue that I

have with the band as opposed to
something that tweaked me at the
concert specifically, the lyrical focus
on adolescence is pretty well rote and
almost instantly transparent as such.
Perhaps it’s this, compounded by the
lead vocalist’s tendency to slip into a
very Adam Young (Owl City) voice,
that make this a point of contention
for me and my position as a fan of the
band. I’m not trying to be pompous or
harsh here (I like the band and paid to
see them), but I’m pretty sure “Don’t
let the bathwater get too high, you
will be a flood of porcelain” doesn’t
mean anything; it’s just lazy writing.

Ranting aside, Freelance Whales
in concert made for a chipper evening
filled with ideal winter weather
music. Bells, banjos, chimes, and
more, there’s something about the
season that just bégs for this kind of
thing. Thankfully, supply more than
meets demand.

An