| CD REVIEW Leathermouth |
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Band : Leathermouth Leathermouth is the side-project of My Chemical Romance guitarist Frank Iero. Having pent up for years his anger and rage about the many social and political offences he’s seen in the world, and the USA particularly, he felt the need to express himself in an all-out vocal assault, and therefore founded Leathermouth in 2007 with the aid of Rob “Bobby Venom” Hughes, a guitarist friend from his home state of New Jersey. More friends (second guitarist VincentAvarali, bassist Andrew Escobar, and drummer Steve Oyola) were found available to complete the line-up (although, huh…by now that may be a completely dífferent set of friends, you know), and after some rehearsals the band headed out onto the local live circuit! In Iero’s own words, “I try to belabor the topics people want to forget exist. LeATHERMOUTH is where I can vomit out all that aggression that has built up inside. After recording or playing a LM show I feel empty of all that hatred that’s been bottled up…it’s a pleasant, cathartic experience. I am embarrassed by my emotions and originally wanted to keep LeATHERMOUTH anonymous…but fuck it, none of us are perfect, the world is going to shit, and someone has to say it!” And vomit out his thoughts he indeed does, and that not only lyrically, but also vocally, screaming/ squealing at the top of his voice…and not afraid to put the blame where it belongs!!! Take the album opening “5th Period Massacre” for instance, dealing with school shootings from the viewpoint of the individual who was tormented at school and saw no way out in his troubled mind but by the use of violence. It puts the blame with those rude kids who did the tormenting in the first place…and in a way it may not even go far enough where the blaming goes, because the finger shoùld actually point towards that society which promotes violence in its own streets by sheer fearmongering (lets not forget that the US is thé country in the world where the highest percentage of violence – rape, muggings, murder… - exists), right? But that’s really a personal viewpoint of mine. Its successor on the album, “Catch Me If You Can” (which knows a surprising change of pace halfway through with a “rip-off” of a riff which is very Black Sabbath-like), compares the New York Police Department to Jack The Ripper…”Sunsets Are For Muggings” then, is not about getting your wallet swiped, but about being robbed of childhood by drugs and therapy. Other topics include dirty politicians (“I Am Going To Kill The President Of The United States Of America”), but there’s even a couple of love songs (“My Love Has Gone Flat” and “Bodysnatchers 4 Ever (What’s a Pulse Got To Do With It?)”)…with a weird twist!!! Musically, the band had made a return to Reagan-era Hardcore: hard, obnoxious, but with a heart for melody nevertheless…and all the advantages of modern recording techniques and production! As mentioned earlier, Iero exhudes his demons by vomitting out his lyrics, and in a way he comes close to what the guys in Discordant Axis used to do vocally. He’s aided (by Hughes?) in an often matching way (but occasionally the backings also deviate and have a more soothing-to-the-ear sound). There’s one deviation from the vomit-style vocals with the album “Leviathan”, where (for at least the large first part of the song), a more whaling style is used. Just like there’s also óne deviation from the usual twin-guitar attack during “This Song Is About Being Attacked By Monsters”, where you’re suddenly treated to a passage with real moody keyboard! This may not be what My Chemical Romance fans are used to…in fact, Iero urges music fans into that band to gear away from LeATHERMOUTH if they feel compelled to check it out just because he’s in it…but it’s GréAT stuff, and for the Hardcore freaks of the early days (like myself) it is an unexpected treat of the highest class! The album may only last just under 25 minutes, but its ten songs are prime quality jewels each and all! Check it out for yourselves by surfing to myspace.com/leathermouthlives where, at this very moment, you’ll find the compléte album posted. Probably a temporary thing, so hurry on up checking it out (alternally, you will also find some live footage on MySpace Video). So, my dearies…how d’ya figger I feel about the weirdly title XO? Heheh, of coùrse this gets nominated into my personal “Best Albums Of 2009” lists! 98/100 Tony. |