I loves my music, but it tends to be more of the “you wouldnt know this” kind of thing. Gimme Grandaddy, Nine Inch Nails, I Blame Coco, and a million other bands that are too cool for school – and definitely too cool for your local pub goer to understand. So after hearing the first single “Na Na Na Na” from (lets be honest, they are probably regretting naming themselves that now) My Chenical Romance I was kinda interested in this new Big Dumb Sound.
You too will have heard of MCR. Although it would have been from their last CD, Welcome To The Black Parade – a story of a cancer sufferer reliving his life through memories. Pretty fucking heavy stuff. And a “Concept Album” too, if that made it any easier listening. It didnt.
Anyway, I was wandering around HMV in London last week waiting for the pubs to open and they were selling the new CD for just £5. A fiver. you cant go wrong can you really. So, with the complete understanding that the cunts at the counter would be scoffing as I meekly shuffle forwards with my copy of “Danger Days – The True Lifes of the Fabulous Killjoys” totally aware that I am neither a 14 year old girl nor am I wearing the requisite guyliner of an emoy kid, I went ahead and threw a shiny five pound note at the sneering ‘yeah man, I’m in a band too’ guy behind the counter.
When I got home I left the CD for a couple of days – it wasnt an urgent purchase; this is not my favourite band ever – this is not a MUST LISTEN TO NOW purchase.
Anywah, a couple of days later, I stuck it on the CD player, cranked it up to 11 (well, 5ish – maybe 6 – you dont want to piss off the neighbours do you) and went back to my work with this on in the background.
Its Fucking Brilliant. Fucking Brilliant. FUCKING BRILLIANT. Its the sound of a band loosing its shackles of having a massive Emo hit by writing a big old dumb heartfelt album of songs because they love the songs. Its the most immediate record I have heard since Faith No More released “The Real Thing”. the difference being that with Faith No More I would rewind my tape after the first four songs and listen to them over and over again – not so with Danger Days. Every single song is brilliant. its like the first time you heard Pretty Fly For a White Guy, the first time you heard Madness, the first time you heard All American Rejects – dammit, the first time you heard Weezer. Lemmy would fucking hate it.
Its hard to explain, but this just sounds like fun. Even though they are a “serious band” these arent serious songs. Every song could be part of a film soundtrack, or played at an indie disco.
Again, its hard to explain, but this album is now ingrained on my heart. I fucking love it. You will fucking love it too. If it was a film it would be Dumb and Dumber, Anchorman and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind rolled into one with a smattering of Machete thrown in (the first five words of the first sone on the album are “Drugs, Gimme drugs, Gimme Drugs”). As such, parents are going to hate it – the radio versions sound friendly – as they should – but the CD version has a lot of swearing in it – enough to delight the 14-16 target age group but also enough for the older ones of us to just accept it as it is without getting all Hoo Haa.
Buy this record. You wont regret it. If you like music this is the antithesis of Elbow, Muse, Interpol, (the godawful) White Lies etc. Its fun. FUN. Add it to your record collection and when then sun is out, or you are driving stick this on – you’ll have a great big dumb smile on your face. As God intended.
Thanks you MCR. Thank you for releasing a record that sounds so big, so dumb and so much fucking fun that I have it on pernament repeat in my office. And that doesnt happen much. In fact its never happen.
Album of the Year? Album of the fucking Decade mate. No questions.