"XO"- LeATHERMOUTH

Most of you who have any sort of attraction to my blog, will already know that Leathermouth is My Chemical Romance rhythm guitarist, Frank Iero's, side project.There's enough back-story to the release of this CD that I feel I need to digress in time to best describe it.

A long-ass time ago, we My Chem fans started getting wind of Leathermouth: this band shrouded in mystery, always turning their backs in photographs or wearing masks. What were these guys hiding from the public? We soon found that it was a secret weapon in a 5'4" package about to be unleashed upon the world-- Frank Iero needed somewhere to let shit out, and thus Leathermouth lived.

Demos of Leathermouth songs started cropping up on purevolume and random seedy websites, where they were abruptly downloaded at first by those who were interested in Frank Iero's musical pursuit and members of the Skeleton Crew family, then by others in the hardcore scene who caught on and realized something along the lines of: "That emo dude from that shitty band is legit fucking good!"

So, the demos were devoured, and the kids who needed somewhere to vent their piss and vinegar gained another favorite band. There were roughly four relatively poor recording quality demos of the songs, then titled:
Fifth Period| Sunsets are For Muggers| Body Snatchers Forever (What's a Pulse Got To Do With It?)| and Murder Was the Case They Gave Me
That short list was enough for the band to tour on and to watch with amusement as young girls in the audience screamed back lyrics about killing girls, and shouting such memorable lines as: "Its search and destroy, you fucking whore."

Eventually, the band got noticed enough to be signed by Epitaph, and from there "XO" was recorded for my listening and reviewing pleasure.



XO
LeATHERMOUTH
Epitaph Records


Release date: January 27th, 2009


Sounds like: The Oval Portrait, United Nations
Doesn't sound like: My Chemical Romance





Tracklisting:
1. 5th Period Massacre
2. Catch Me If You Can
3. This Song Is About Being Attacked By Monsters
4. I Am Going To Kill The President Of The United States Of America
5. Murder Was The Case That They Gave Me
6. Sunsets Are For Muggings
7. My Lovenote Has Gone Flat
8. Your Friends Are Full Of Shit
9. Bodysnatchers 4 Ever
10. Leviathan

As mentioned in my back-story, this album is a no-joke, violent, angry ride. For those of you who like melody and nice things like kittens this probably isn't quite your cup of tea. As for those of you, however, who have ever felt like simply setting the world ablaze, this album could very well be your new voice.

Even with recording quality far higher than that of the original demos, this album is still is able to maintain its suited roughness, giving it even more of an edge than it already has. With relentless drums in company of pounding and squealing guitars, this album is like a static-ridden ADD trip for one's ears, and definitely an interesting listen. The screams on this album are some of the most intelligible I have heard in a long time, for those of you who are big into lyrics. The lyrical content however may not be the pretty flowery poetry you desire.

A highlight of the album is the vocal-rhythm-driven "This Song is About Being Attacked By Monsters" describing what appears to be a zombie apocalypse that ends with the singer's piercing, desperate screams as the creatures devour him, containing such awesome lines as: We need a plan, get a plan, need a plan.../ WE NEED A DOCTOR, A FUCKING DOCTOR!/Just get your gun, get your gun... you better run! It's a perfect song for any horror fan, and any fan of good music for that matter.
Though "...Monsters" was my favorite song of the album, I found myself listening to each track over and over.

All songs blend perfectly into the next with building intensity through the entire album until it ends with a moaning singer in "Leviathan".

You can listen to the album streaming now on myspace then go buy it on the 27th and break some shit.

XoXo
c.

Comments

Anonymous said…
i love this band, i love this album :D

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