Charles’ Pick: Cancer Bats have just posted a new song on on thier MySpace and it is boner-ific. April 13, 2010 could not come fast enough!

Gary’s Pick: You can hear the new Four Year Strong song ‘Wasting Time’ exclusively at AbsolutePunk.net. This one sounds like it could be the breakthrough single to bring them to the masses!

I also recently found out that in addition to Ace Enders’ newest project …And A Million Different People, he’ll also be releasing another I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody’s Business album later this year. Stoked!

Team Pick: A new Coheed and Cambria song called ‘The Broken’ has been posted on their official website. Their new album ‘Year of the Black Rainbow’ is coming out April 13th as the final chapter in the C&C storyline. This time we get the first chapter, the storyline before and leading up to Second Stage Turbine Blade. In terms of sound, Johnny Hockin was quoted as saying it ‘sounds like Guns and Roses is having sex with Dragonforce.’

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Watching this movie reminds me how amazing this great country of ours truly is.

The soundtrack for this movie is phenomenal featuring only Canadian artists such as Stars, Sam Roberts, Wintersleep and the movie itself features cameos by Gordon Downie of The Hip and Joel Plaskett.

I understand this movie has been out for a while now and that I am late to the party when it comes to praising this little piece of Canadiana but the soundtrack is so good. The One Week soundtrack has got me thinking about my favorite movie soundtracks of all time, soundtracks so good that they have made me want to go out and purchase them by the time the credits start rolling. I couldn’t tell you the last soundtrack I bought, but I think I may actually go buy the One Week soundtrack because it was that good.

Keep reading after the jump for my Top 3 Movie Soundtracks:

3: Labyrinth

This is the musical companion to what I feel is the greatest thing David Bowie has ever done. When you cross Bowie with Jim Henson you get the creepiest children’s movie of the 80’s.

Top Track: Magic Dance

2: The Breakfast Club

I was 1 year old when this movie came out but for some reason I had this soundtrack on cassette (my guess is that my mom loved that Wang Chung song). This soundtrack still holds up today and you can’t hear “Don’t You” by Simple Minds with out thinking about Bender and all his antics.

Top Track: ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ by Simple Minds

And now it is time for the greatest movie soundtrack in the history of movie soundtracks:

1: Space Jam

I got this CD as a gift when I was in the Seventh grade and this CD was my soundtrack of 96-97 (along side Weird Al Yankovic’s Bad Hair Day and Silverchair Frogstomp.) Surprisingly this soundtrack spawned two hit singles, “I believe I can fly” – R. Kelly and “Hit ‘Em High” – B-Real, Coolio, Method Man, LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes. I am pretty sure that if you were to put this album on right now I would be able to sing it word for word.

Top Track: ‘Basketball Jones’ by Chris Rock and Barry White

Honorable Mention: Beavis And Butthead Do America

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Click ‘keep reading’ to see our lists.

Gary’s Week’s End

Top Artists

1. Circa Survive
2. Manchester Orchestra
3. Right Away Great Captain

This week I recieved 3 out of the 4 Circa Survive records which I’ve been waiting for (see below) so they’ve been dominating both my record player and my iPod because of it. I’m so excited for their new album now, more than I was before. I’ve been using Manchester Orchestra as my ‘fall asleep to’ playlist lately and Right Away Great Captain (side project of Manchester’s Andy Hull) sneaks in due to a listening session for my friend Kyle who enjoys M.O. but has never heard R.A.G.C.

Top Tracks

1. Circa Survive – The Difference Between Medicine and Poison is in the Dose
2. Manchester Orchestra – I Could Be With Anyone (Kevin Devine cover)
3. Circa Survive – Suspended Disbelief

I talked last week about Manchester Orchestra covering Kevin Devine’s ‘I Could Be With Anyone’, stating I was “enjoying [it] more than the original.” That being said, I’ve been listening to Kevin’s version and decided they can’t be compared, they’re so different which makes them work so well as a pair.

Moving on, in anticipation of the Circa ‘Inuit Sessions’ vinyl which is on it’s way to me, I re listened to ‘Suspended Disbelief’ and came to the realization that Anthony’s vocal pattern on the second verse may be my favorite Anthony vocal pattern I’ve yet to hear (1:42-2:04). Again, can’t wait for the new album.

Vinyl: New Additions

In anticipation of their new album, Circa Survive have released their entire back catalogue on vinyl, including their debut EP ‘The Inuit Sessions’, both full length’s ‘Juturna’ and ‘On Letting Go’ and a 7″ of B-Sides. This week I recieved all but the EP and they’re quite possibly my favorite records in my collection in terms of look. Check out the full lengths:

In conclusion, this has been a week of Circa Survive and I’ll say it for a third time, I can’t wait for the new album. In addition to the band’s public excitement via Twitter I know some people who have heard bits of it and every bit of feedback I’ve been hearing is alluding to this being not only Circa’s best record yet, but a strong contender for Album of the Year. Stoked!

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Charles’ Week’s End

Since technology seems to be failing me on a weekly basis, I have decided to just write about the one album that I have been listening to NON-STOP for the past week. That album would be none other than Phil Collins ‘No Jacket Required’.

I bought this album at a used CD store for $4.00 and have played it NON-STOP for six days straight. Track for track this album is phenomenal. Anyone who claims that they don’t like Phil is a dirty lying liar who needs to stop lying. If I could give you one piece of advice this week it would be to buy this album and a bottle of Dr. Pepper; trust me, after listening to this album in its entirety you will thank me.

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Top Artists

1. Weatherbox (129)
2. Glassjaw (18)
3. Oh No Forest Fires (10)
4. Right Away, Great Captain! (10)
5. Manchester Orchestra (8)

Quite the landslide this week; as with last week I’ve been obsessing over Weatherbox. If you haven’t heard them yet, what are you waiting for? Local boys Oh No Forest Fires make the list with the release of their swan song EP ‘Wants To Try Something’ which you can download FOR FREE by clicking these words. And rounding out the top 5 is Manchester Orchestra, but this time it’s because of their split EP with Kevin Devine and their cover of Kevin’s ‘I Could Be With Anyone’ which I’m enjoying more than the original.

Top Tracks

1. Weatherbox – Contactus, The Little Green Man (13)
2. Weatherbox – Atoms Smash (12)
3. Weatherbox – And You Will Know Me By The Trail Of Dead (10)
4. Weatherbox – Two Satchels of Light (10)
5. Weatherbox – I Haven’t Kissed a Guy in Lightyears (9)

I may have a new favorite track from the latest Weatherbox album; I haven’t been able to stop singing ‘Little Green Man’ for the past week. Maybe next week this list will be more diverse.

Video Game Music: VVVVVV

This week I download VVVVVV, a game which has been gaining momentum online lately. Self developed by Terry Cavanagh, the game itself is incredible and I recommend you purchase it by clicking these words but in addition to the game, the soundtrack is highly enjoyable.

The entire soundtrack is chiptune music written by Magnus Pålsson entitled PPPPPP, a great throwback to the days of 2D gaming. The music has actually been released as a physical soundtrack which you can purchase by clicking these words. Personally, I wouldn’t go as far as to buy the music separately, but in the context of the game it’s the perfect accompaniment, to the point that we actually turned off the stereo last night while I was playing this game just to listen to the soundtrack.

You can try a demo of the game (and a sample of the music) by clicking here.

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Essentially it’s a weekly sum up of our week in music. We track what we’ve listened to over the past week and throw in mentions of live shows, music films, or other related info below. This week it’s just me (Gary) as Charles has been having issues with his Last.fm, but next week all will be right with the world. Feel free to comment below and let us know what you’ve been listening to this week.

Check it out after the jump…

Gary’s Week’s End

Top Artists

1. Weatherbox (82)
2. Midtown (66)
3. Jimmy Eat World (56)
4. Glassjaw (32)
5. Say Anything (32)

I’ve been obsessing over the new Weatherbox album this week (The Cosmic Drama), can’t get over it. As for Midtown, they’ve been my nostalgia kick this week and I’ve been crossing my fingers for a reunion tour. Jimmy Eat World has been my ‘fall asleep to’ playlist lately. Glassjaw is just incredible and Say Anything crept into the list this week.

Top Songs

1. Weatherbox – Two Satchels of Light (10)
2. Glassjaw – Radio Cambodia (8)
3. Weatherbox – Atoms Smash (7)
4. Midtown – We Bring Us Down (7)
5. Weatherbox – Contactus, The Little Green Man (7)

Of course the top artist of the week holds multiple top tracks…that specific Midtown song seems out of place though.

Film

Last night I saw the Blur documentary No Distance Left To Run. The film has been released in the UK, but across the pond here in Canada we only got a single showing in select theaters. To sum it up, it’s truly a story about their friendship more so than the story about their band, and it works well as such. It’s a film for fans of the band, they don’t spoon feed you facts or spend time setting up any part of the story line, it’s assumed that if you’re watching the film, you’re aware of what has happened and instead of wasting time with plot points they give you a behind the scenes look into what was really going on and what the band was really feeling at the time. A must watch for any Blur fan, catch it on DVD next month.

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1. Every Time I Die ‘New Junk Aesthetic’

Easily the album I anticipated the most this year and it did not disappoint. ETID go back to the ‘Hot Damn’ days and prove why they are the best at what they do.  As a side note to the music, the album art is unbelievable and done by the band’s guitarist Jordan Buckley. ‘New Junk Aesthetic’ is both visually and audibly appealing.

Top Track: Who Invited The Russian Soldier

2. Polar Bear Club ‘Chasing Hamburg’

I was fortunate enough to listen to this album several months before its release and after sitting in a smelly van listening to the album in its entirety, I just wanted to listen to it again. I was so bummed that I had to wait three months to hear it and after three months it was just as good as I remembered.

Top Track: One Hit Back

3. Shook Ones ‘The Unquotable A.M.H’

Hooky, catchy and ridiculous. This is easily the catchiest album of the year and it is probably the album I have listened to the most this year.

Top Track: For Flannel

4. Converge ‘Axe To Fall’

This album is quickly becoming my favorite Converge album to date and that says a lot because ‘You Fail Me’ and ‘Jane Doe’ are both amazing.

Top Track: Dark Horse

5. Moneen ‘The World I Want To Leave Behind’

Great guys. Great songs. Great Albums. Well worth the wait.

Top Track: Hold That Sound

6. Cursive ‘Mama I’m Swollen’

It’s no Ugly Organ but is damn good regardless.

Top Track: Caveman

7. Gallows ‘Grey Britain’

Usually I ignore most British bands because they sound ‘British’ but Gallows can not be ignored. They are the exception to my NO BRIT rule.

Top Track: The Great Forgiver

8. Coalesce ‘Ox’

The decade long wait for a new Coalesce studio album was worth it. Hopefully they wont wait until 2019 to release their next album.

Top Track: In My Wake, For My Own

9. NOFX ‘Coaster’

It’s a NOFX album. More of the same, but when the same is NOFX it is fucking awesome.

Top Track: My Orphan Year

10. Party At The Moontower ‘The O’Bannion E.P.’

I randomly downloaded this album off of JuiceBox dotcom based simply on the fact that is was littered with reference to Richard Linklater film’Dazed and Confused’. After the first listen I was hooked. If you haven’t listened to this album I highly recommend going here right now and downloading it for FREE. It is phenomenal.

Top Track: Y’ all Ready to Bust Some Ass

Honorable Mention: Whatever that Miley Cyrus album is called based solely on “Party In The U.S.A”. I LOVE that song, and I’m not afraid to admit it.

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1. Manchester Orchestra ‘Everything To Nothing’

After their killer debut ‘Like A Virgin Losing A Child’ and seeing them live a few times I had high expectations for this album, and it reached all of them. Honesty is written all over this record, with a great mix of hard, soft, fast and slow tracks. If you don’t know them yet, you will soon.

Top Track: Everything To Nothing

2. Weatherbox ‘The Cosmic Drama’

After the band almost imploded last year, Weatherbox front man Brian Warren returned strong with Cosmic Drama, a half acoustic/half full band album full of honesty and heart. While the album is entirely unique, there are definitely hints of influence from Neutral Milk Hotel to Say Anything. Lyrically, it’s like reading Brian’s self depricating journal or notes from psychiatry sessions, pure honesty and self belief. (Might I add, this album was released digitally as well as vinyl and cassette only, no cd)

Top Track: acoustic: Youtube The Clouds (Anything That Flies), full band: Two Satchels of Light

3. Phoenix ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix’

If you’ve heard the album you know why it’s on this list. As soon as I heard 1901 I was hooked, and luckily the rest of the album stood strong beside that track. A great record to put on during a party or in your headphones on your walk to class or to work, a must for any rock collection.

Top Track: 1901

4. Rx Bandits ‘Mandala’

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Rx Bandits are the most underrated band in rock music today. Some of the most impressive musicianship around these days and yet most people still aren’t aware of the band’s existence. The first Rx album without horns, the band still finds a way to complete their sound and make an impression. Incredible.

Top Track: My Lonesome Only Friend

5. Brand New ‘Daisy’

I must admit, I didn’t enjoy this album on first listen. In fact, I was almost offended when I heard the first track, Vices. But after a dozen listens through and seeing these songs live a few times I am sold. Bands need room to progress and Brand New takes advantage of that with each release, this being the most noticeable one, possibly because Vinnie takes the lead in lyric writing this time around. While I still enjoy Devil and God more than Daisy, and while it does take some time to settle, it’s still a solid record once you accept it as such.

Top Track: Sink

6. Thrice ‘Beggars’

In my eyes, Thrice have never been a band to disappoint. ‘Illusion of Safety’ stands tall on my Top Albums of the Decade list and since it’s release in 2002 Thrice have made quite the progression to the band they are on Beggars. Great record, though I do hope they continue playing the older songs live.

Top Track: The Weight

7. Japandroids ‘Post Nothing’

Lo-fi at it’s best. For a 2-man band this album sounds very full, and for 2 guys who can’t sing the vocals stand up. This is a straight up party record for fans of that Cap’n Jazz sound.

Top Track: tie: Young Hearts Spark Fire/Wet Hair

8. Moneen ‘The World I Want To Leave Behind’

It seems like there are two eras of Moneen, the first era ending with ‘Really Happy’ and the second starting with ‘Red Tree’. This album lives in the second era and as such stands strong. I’m so happy to hear Erik singing more, giving new life to songs like The Glasshouse. Juxtapose that track with the simplicity of Believe and you’ll start to understand the variety Moneen is capable of.

Top Track: The Long Count

9. Say Anything ‘Say Anything’

To put it simply, better than ‘In Defense’ and surprisingly close to the magic of ‘…Is A Real Boy’. Max and the gang take risks that pay off well, and (again) the honesty found in his lyrics brings great appeal. This is the start of something big for Say Anything, just wait! Additionally, Say Anything ranks high in top concerts of the year and the new tunes fit so well into the set list.

Top Track: Mara and Me

What were your favorite albums of the year? Leave a comment below.

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Full interview after the jump!

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When My Chemical Romance stopped through Toronto this past week I had a chance to sit down with the guys and discuss their band and their opinions on certain topics. For the past three years they have been touring off of their debut album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, and recently released their major-label release Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge to the delights of many people. Was this album as rushed as the first? Apparently not, as Gerard tells us.

GERARD: We had about a two month break, which wasn’t really a break because we just wrote for two months. We had written stuff on the road and then we needed about two more months to kinda lock it in cause we weren’t very happy with the demos, and it was just a lot of rough ideas and nothing solid. So then we went to L.A. early, spent about a week writing more, then we spent another three weeks in pre-production writing again. Then we made the record and we were on tour literally the next day, after it was finished tracking.

And anyone who has heard the record will probably agree, this abundance of writing time paid off when the final copy hit the streets. Not only were the fans enjoying the album, but the band members agree that this is a better representation of them, and the songs are getting a better reaction from everyone. Did they succumb to the pressure after releasing such a critically acclaimed album as the first?

GERARD: Basically, we knew there was going to be a lot of pressure because the first record kind of got a lot of critical attention but at the same time we realized that not many people had heard it. So we kind of had that on our side. We didn’t let the pressure of making a good first record get to us and we also weren’t super huge fans of a lot of the songs on that record and we knew what we could improve. I mean, we were only a band for three months when we made that record and all the songs that are on that record are the only songs that we had. We literally squeezed every one we could out of ourselves to make that record. This time we had a lot more time to think about stuff and it was way easier, there were songs that didn’t make this record and it was cool to have stuff to choose from.

So heading into the studio the guys knew what they wanted and decided on a producer; Howard Benson. Howard has produced albums with such bands as Hazen Street, Head Automatica, Less Than Jake, Zebrahead and many more. So why did My Chemical Romance decide he was the best choice for them? How did he help them grow as a band?

GERARD: He had made four Motorhead records, and that’s what got us interested about him and what also got us interested about him was the fact that he contacted us and that’s how we like to work. We don’t like to chase people, we don’t have big egos but it’s really nice, I think a project is ultimately going to be better when you have people that mutually want to work together as opposed to having to convince a big shot producer to work for you. That was the case with him, he was very interested in the band, he wanted to find out more about the band, we wanted to get the band. What he helped us do was really structure our songs to not be so self indulgent or last like six minutes long like Vampires [Will Never Hurt You] does. Like ‘Vampires’, I think, is the best song on the first record, it’s the fans favorite song, but it’s also six minutes long. I wouldn’t change it for the world, but it was good to learn from that experience and have somebody kind of point out the fact that you have sections here that aren’t adding to your song at all.

If you listen to both albums you can hear a change in the music pretty distinctively while keeping the same My Chemical Romance feel to it. What was it that made their sound change since the previous album?

GERARD: I think kind of a willingness to accept the fact that we’re a band that wants to write great songs and not just be self indulgent or kind of overly intelligent for the sake of being snobby. I think coming to grips with that was what changed the sound, instead of just trying to impress people with the fact that we could do ten changes in one song, or time signature changes or mood changes or something we’re more interested in now.

This record is more than just the music for the boys in MCR, as lead singer Gerard Way designed both the album cover and the tray art. Some would say the crossover between music and art is a simple step, but Gerard found it a difficult task mixing the band and the painting.

GERARD: It’s like the hardest thing, it really is. Coming up with the ideas and a visual aesthetic for the band is the fun part, it’s the easy part, but executing it with that kind of thing is very hard because I find it difficult to kind of remove myself from it, I’m too close to the project. When I draw something, I’d rather have somebody else do it, but with this one the people at Warner loved it so much they convinced me to use it. [The cover art] was really supposed to be a photograph of two people but they loved it. I find it really hard because you’re so close to something.

But that’s not where Gerard’s artistic interst ends, as even on stage he likes to give the kids more, usually by dressing up in fancy suits and jumping about to the beat. The last time they were in town was with Face To Face and once again, Gerard was sporting the suit. How planned does this style get and how often does it change?

GERARD: It’s all very spontaneous but just by the way I am I change things constantly. This tour for example the make-ups a little different and I’m a different jacket now, but it’s relatively the same thing, I wear a suit more or less. I always try to keep it a little new.

The tightness of the group has been around from the beginning, especially since two of the members are related. Gerard and Mikey (who plays bass) are brothers, which makes it easier in many ways.

GERARD: I think it makes it a lot easier.

MIKEY: It’s one less person that annoys the shit out of you, you know? Cause you know them, so you don’t have to get to know them.

GERARD: Yeah, and when you’re in a band it takes a while to become brothers with the other guys, but you eventually do. That’s where we all are now and that’s awesome, you know? But it definitely makes it easier because you know you have at least one person that you’ve lived with so long, that you get along with so well that you can kind of go out and go shopping for comics or something, whatever. But really, it’s not really that way in this band where we need to get away from each other. We all get along extremely well, like brothers, and we all do the same things, we all play video games and we go out comic shopping with each other.

Since they all enjoy video games it seems like this tour, The Nintendo Fusion Tour, is just right for them. So exactly what kind of perks do they get from being on a tour with such a sponsor?

GERARD: The first day they gave us a Gamecube with four wireless controllers and Mario Kart, which was really nice of them and we play that stuff all the time. They just recently gave us Donkey Konga, the bongo game, they gave us four sets of bongos so we’re very excited, they’re so nice to us, you know? It definitely has its benefits.

So somehow between writing, painting, video games and touring the band found time to film a video for their single I’m Not Okay (I Promise), which seems to go hand in hand with the movie poster concept found in the cd booklet and even the title of the album. Was this all planned?

GERARD: I wanted [the album title] to kind of be like the title to a movie that wasn’t really a movie, like an unfinished movie or a movie that was never made.

About the video:

GERARD: Mark Webb came up with this idea of making…we had all wanted something kind of school like but we kinda realized we were older and we’re not gonna be very convincing high school students so we had brought the idea to him to be prep school students, maybe post high school. We wanted it to kind of feel like Rushmore, that movie. He came up with the idea of having a movie that didn’t exist, and have a trailer for that movie. I hear it’s pretty convincing, I hear a lot of people who had never heard of the band at first watch it and they think it’s from an actual movie. So it was his idea to do that and the rest was pretty collaborative, like he had this vignettes that are throughout the video but he let us have a lot of input, you know? It was really collaborative.

With all this talk about movies, wouldn’t it be interesting to see a My Chemical Romance movie? But what would that movie be like? How would it end? Who would act as the members? Well, I decided to get their opinion on it and casting themselves wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to do.

GERARD: I’ll talk about the ending first, I think the ending would be really good. And I think in the end everyone would kind of go back to normal doing that they did before the band or maybe something new like living in the woods, or writing children’s books. Bob would be, probably, an airline pilot or something. I’d like to think that when this band it through that everyone’s lives would go back to normal, not that we’re not happy right now but I’d like to think that everybody is going to have a really good life when this band is done.

As far as who would play us, I don’t really know. What do you think Mikey?

MIKEY: Bob would be played by Lou Ferrigno.

GERARD: Bob knows a lot of celebrities. He’s just knowledgeable, you know a lot of celebrities. You spit out names I don’t even know. Come on man, cast the movie, it’s your job.

BOB: Gerard…Brad Pitt. Obviously.

GERARD: Obviously.

BOB: Mikey. What was the dude we saw the other day? Caddie Shack 2 guy?

GERARD: Oh! Jackie Mason. I think Christina Ricci would play me, Brad Pitt would play Mikey.

BOB: Ray would be…that’s a rough question.

GERARD: How about Ashley Simpson.

BOB: No, Ashley Simpson would be Frank.

GERARD: Okay, Ashley Simpson will be Frank.

BOB: Definitely. Ray would be that American Idol dude.

After some discussion over which American Idol dude he was talking about…

MIKEY: OH! Clay Aiken!

GERARD: Okay that works. We’ve gotten it all.

Is MCR worthy of a movie? Are they worthy of your attention? I asked the guys what they think makes them so special. Why should we listen to them over other bands; what sets them apart from the rest?

Gerard: I think our attitude really sets us apart as far as why we’re in this and what we do this for. It’s not simply for the fun of being in a band or playing music, it really has nothing to do with that, or fame or money or anything. Not saying that a lot of bands are just interested in money but I think a lot of people just are in bands because they love music, you know? And we’re in it because we love helping people and we really wanna be there for people and that’s kind of, that’s our attitude towards this band. So as a result of that we are extremely sincere about it and you can kind of hear that as a result in the music. And we’re also a band who takes a lot of risks musically, and I think that’s the most exciting part of listening to this band. From our standpoint, we listen to it like fans, you know? We’re all fans of the band we’re in and the fact that each song is completely different from the last, you never know what we’re gonna do next, I think is really exciting about us.

So they’re a band who care, a band who takes risks. With so many risks and changes in the songs it’s hard to put a finger on their sound. Sticking them into a genre is a difficult task, but many people have tried. If you go to Launch.com you can find them under the ‘emo’ category. Does that bug them?

GERARD: Not really. I mean, Launch.com is owned by ‘Yahoo!’ which is this really huge corporation thing. I’m sure that they have a hard time categorizing music and they’re probably just going off what they find in the media to call bands like ours, you know? The main reason we get categorized in that is cause we tour with so many of those bands. We’re always odd man out on any tour we’ve ever been on though. We’re always the ‘weird dark rock-n-roll band’ touring with these emo bands because that’s just what’s big right now. It doesn’t bother me at all, they have to categorize it somehow for being on Yahoo and stuff.

With so much talk of ‘emo’ I was interested on their take on music today and the whole ‘scene’ in general. On their new album there’s a line from the song Thank You For The Venom where they sing “I wouldn’t front the scene if you paid me”.

GERARD: That line was kind of a direct commentary on the climate of music right now and how we aren’t a part of that scene. I don’t want this band to be like the poster child for that scene and I wouldn’t front it, I don’t want, you know.

So they wouldn’t front the scene, but what do they think about it?

GERARD: I think the scene is great for what it is but I think it’s being exploited, it’s way past exploited. It’s probably into its stages of death pretty soon. If these bands don’t evolve soon they’re all going to just fade away. That’s the problem with scene stuff, it’s not like grunge. Nothing is gonna be like that, I don’t think. Not for a long time, I mean this is just like another fad, you know?

If it were up to them, how would they categorize themselves?

GERARD: This is probably every bands answer, but we really categorize ourselves as a rock-and-roll band. I always like to use the term ‘neo-death’ to describe it because it’s kind of like this new wave of death rock which is a genre but I feel like that’s just a part of us, to be a death rock band. All of our stuff’s about death and I don’t see that really changing. I mean it’s positive too, it’s very positive music. It looks at death in both the negative and positive aspect.

So why exactly do they discuss death so much in their lyrics? What does Gerard find so intriguing about it?

GERARD: I’ve always been obsessed with it growing up, and I think that’s just why. I don’t think there’s any other reason.

And what does he believe happens when you die?

GERARD: I’d really like to think that there’s something else after death, I feel that there kind of has to be. It would really be one of the only explanations for everything is that there is something beyond death. What that is I don’t know. It really goes hand in hand with how I feel about God. I think there is something out there, I don’t necessarily know if it’s God, but it’s something.

GARY: If it’s the God that has been discussed?

GERARD: Yeah, it might be like a giant octopus or something. That would be kinda cool.

With so much talk of death in their lyrics I wondered what is happening right now that they would like to be dead, or something that is dead that they’d like to bring back. So I wondered and wondered, and then I asked them. Their response?

GERARD: Hair crimping needs to go. You know what I’m saying?

BOB: Hair straightening.

GERARD: Hair straightening?

MIKEY AND RAY: OH!

GERARD: No way dog! You’d ruin every band out there! Um, hair crimping has to go. I don’t see it very often but when I do it burns my ass.

BOB: Slippers.

GERARD: Yeah, slippers. We’re gonna bring back slippers from the dead.

MIKEY: I think Hula-Hoops need to come back. There’s less violence in the world when people are using Hula-Hoops.

My Chemical Romance have been lucky enough to tour excessively, but when you’re on tour you don’t always get to see the places you’re in even though you’re there for the day. So where would the boys like to revisit and just spend a day as a tourist?

GERARD: San Francisco.

BOB: No, remember that place that we drove through? Niagara Falls? Canada side?

GERARD: Oh yeah! Niagara Falls, Canadian side. I’d like to go back there. I think we’d have fun there, there’s a lot of haunted houses.

A band who tours together build strong relationships, and that’s not always just the case with a band themselves but also other people on the tour or other bands with them. Such is the case with frontman of The Used, Bert McCracken. He appears on the new album on the song You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison, and in The Used‘s new single Take It Away there’s a line using the name Chemical Romance. Where did this relationship start? On tour.

GERARD: It started on the road, which is how we met Bob. Bob did their sound for three years, then he did Thrice for about two years?

BOB: Something like that.

GERARD: And we just became friends. [Bert] was just a fan of the band, nobody had known who we were. It’s kind of like what he’s doing with The Bled right now, although more people know who The Bled are than knew who we were, but he just loves that band. He’s a big fan of, instead of taking out who’s hot at the moment, just taking out something people haven’t been really exposed to and exposing lots of people to it. He brought us out for three months and to probably five countries.

GARY: The first time I saw you guys was two years ago, here (The Kool Haus), with The Used.

GERARD: Yeah, that was our first, probably one of our first times in Canada if not the first. Oh yeah, we came with Piebald, and then that was our second time.

Anyone who read the latest issue of Alternative Press that has read the latest interview with The Used knows about what Bert had said about his appearance on the album, and his story about himself and Gerard making out for a long period of time. I wondered about this, so I asked him.

GERARD: I don’t really comment on that. Um. Yeah.

Okay, okay. No comment. But at least is it a true story?

GERARD: Uhhh, yeah. Kind of. Me and Bob make out all the time so it’s not a big deal.

I guess it goes to show how close you can get to people. All in all I would say that that song (You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison) is my favorite on the album. I always think about bands and their own personal favorite tracks on their own albums and what they like to play live, and here’s what the band had to say.

GERARD: Prison. For sure. That’s my favorite live and on the record.

RAY: Prison probably live, and on the record To The End. Live too we’ve been playing I Never Told You [What I Do For A Living], and it ‘s been really good. It kind of has a new life now I think, that kids know the words kinda know where the songs gonna go and stuff.

MIKEY: My favorite to play live would probably be Helena, because it’s fun. Favorite on the record would probably have to be Cemetery Drive.

BOB: I think live…I don’t know. I think it’s Ghost [Of You]. It seems like it’s a change of pace half way through the set, kind of. [On the record] Helena.

If you notice, all the songs listed above appear on the new record, and none of their favorites are from the first. Does this come into play when choosing which songs to play live?

GERARD: We prefer our new stuff. We toured off [I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love] for like two years. But we play about three to four old songs per night. It was very strange, before the new record even had came out we noticed the new songs were going over better than the old songs. And now that the records out it’s a big difference in who knows the old stuff and who knows the new stuff.

I can remember seeing them live for that first time and them starting their set even before most of the kids were in the venue, and watching the crowd kind of start to notice them and start nodding their heads. For the majority of the people in that room this was their first time hearing the name My Chemical Romance, me included. Sure, I had heard a couple of their songs but only because I listened to them once I heard they were opening the show and I wanted to hear what they were like. And now when I see them play they have their crowd; they have their fans that are there for them and them alone, which is just awesome to see. So where do they want their band to go? To what extent of fame are they looking for?

GERARD: We really want to be able to get to the point where we could up the production value of the show and really play for at least an hour long with proper lighting and really theatrical things going on. You know? To do that you have to get pretty big to afford it and I think that’s really where we wanna get, to give people a really good show and really to reach people and drive the point home. I think that’s what we want.

It seems like tour life is a big part in their band. The success the want is for their show, to give kids a good time. What draws them to this tour life and also what’s the worst part about it?

GERARD: What draws us, I think, what drew us in the beginning was the fact that we get to see the entire world. We had always hoped to see just the country and then we got the opportunity to see the whole world, and we have really. I mean, there’s lots of places we haven’t been but we’ve been to so many places that were really high on my list and were more important to me like Japan was huge to me. And having the band play a show in London and have it be a huge show, really, that’s like a dream come true. So I think that’s what drew us, the fact that we weren’t gonna just be these guys that lived in our parents basements anymore, we’re gonna be guys who saw the world and experienced things and grew up a lot as people. I think the worst part is you just miss people that you left back home. Your friends and family and loved ones, like you just miss all them. That’s the worst part. The best part is waking up in a new city and kind of trying to get a sense of where you are and going out and exploring it.

With the sudden interest in My Chemical Romance and their love of tour life I’m sure you will get the chance to see these guys in your home town if you haven’t already. They say they have tour plans coming up including a North American headlining stint next February. This is a band to see live, they put all they have into it and you can tell that they love what they’re doing. I can say in all honesty that My Chemical Romance is one of my favorite bands right now and one of my favorites to see live; they’re so exciting every single time. Go see them play, go buy the record, they deserve everything they get.

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Interview originally posted on ThePunkSite.com

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