10 post-My Chemical Romance songs that prove life’s not so bad
It was around this date five years ago when post-emo, art-riot, hyphenate rockers MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE chose to call it a day. (Our site was under repair yesterday—we’re just a day late on this one.) Do you know where you were then?
I guess we’re all kids from yesterday.
— jason pettigrew (@ptgrw) March 23, 2013
While the demise of one of the planet’s most loved bands was most certainly a drag, what a couple folks surmised back then has actually come true: Fans now have a stack of records to discover, ponder and cherish. Yes, the Danger Days protagonist character Dr. Death-Defying did lie to you: The aftermath was most certainly not secondary, but crucial to maintaining the mindset of MCR into the future. They’re not all in the same room making music anymore, but a sweet collected playlist of where the members are now is the next best thing.
GERARD WAY – “Action Cat”
The first song unveiled from Gerard’s 2014 solo debut Hesitant Alien was an amalgam of Heroes-era Bowie, Pixies and the Jesus And Mary Chain. This track just feels like slicked-back hair, mirrored aviator shades and black PVC. Mikey Way once told this writer that when his brother first gave him the demo, he played it every morning to start his day. Funny, so did I…
RAY TORO, “Isn’t That Something”
MCR’s world-class guitar shredder threw all of us a massive curveball on his 2016 solo debut Remember The Laughter. This track leads off the LP, creating a vibe that’s one part ’70s classic rock and sprite ’80s new wave, yet not sounding completely like either. Everybody thought that Toro’s post-MCR output would be a Guitar Center wet dream orgy of six-string acrobatics that would land him gigs opening for Steve Vai or Joe Satriani. His ability to craft radio-ready hooks and measured doses of introspection was positively refreshing.
ELECTRIC CENTURY, “Someone Like You”
The duo of Mikey Way and Dave Debiak (New London Fire) teamed up to make For The Night To Control, the best record of 1983. This writer isn’t throwing shade in the slightest: “Someone Like You” has an electronic-based, anthemic feel that’s a throwback to such ’80s radar blips as When In Rome and Fiction Factory—only without the stupid haircuts. This record doesn’t rock at all, and thank God for that.
FRNKIERO ANDTHE CELLABRATION, “.Smoke Rings.”
The first member to break out in two ways (post-MCR touring with Death Spells and releasing a record), Iero has always had an obsession with getting things done. You get the feeling that making him sit still for 20 minutes would be a massive Herculean effort. This track from his debut record Stomachaches is a grating slice of overmodulated art punk that’s simultaneously primitive and sophisticated, all frayed nerve endings and distortion pedals set in the “kill” position.
REGGIE AND THE FULL EFFECT, “Karate School”
A lot of fans don’t realize that by the time they were making the abandoned Danger Days follow-up, The Paper Kingdom, James Dewees was an official member of My Chem. He’s still doing time as a member of Gerard Way’s band (the Hormones) as well as the Get Up Kids, but it’s his solo vehicle Reggie And The Full Effect that brings the rock, the laughs and more than a few alter egos. On his new album, 41, Dewees mixes a killer riff with memories of going to college at Hogwarts and learning martial arts. Probably. As you read this, he is on tour opening for Senses Fail. So close this screen and wind down your car’s window to the gig, OK?
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RAY TORO, “Look At You Now”
One of those moments from Laughter that pulls at your heartstrings and your eardrums. The slow-moving string section and backing vocals are a great launchpad for Toro to turn in a pretty great vocal performance, while celebrating someone close to him who rose above a lot of personal quagmire. It’s a million miles away from anything that MCR would do—which is the point—but then again, is it? Go buy it now.
ELECTRIC CENTURY, “Hail The Saints”
NOTE: This link isn’t official and there doesn’t seem to be one on YT
Another dose of electro-love from M-Way and Debiak, this time they take their love of pop and synthesizers and cross it with some classic rock signifiers. The result sounds like Pink Floyd’s “Run Like Hell” remixed by the Chemical Brothers—and better than anything off that hellishly overrated LCD Soundsystem comeback LP. (You can @ me, bro, see if I fuk’n care.)
DEATH SPELLS, “Where Are My Fucking Pills?”
Death Spells is (was?) the electronic bad vibe-conjuring unit formed by guitarist Frank Iero and keyboardist James Dewees on the off-time during the making of MCR’s abandoned album. It was the first post-MCR project to see the light of day, with some touring opening for Mindless Self Indulgence, but it wasn’t until 2016 that DS’ debut, Nothing Above, Nothing Below, was brought into the world. The industrial/breakbeat vibe of “Where Are My Fucking Pills?” is weird, ugly and sometimes impenetrable, like chewing Pixy Stix laced with sand. Shut up, lick your teeth and turn it up.
FRANK IERO AND THE PATIENCE, “I’m A Mess”
The fact that Iero can be both a gateway drug for younger listeners and a staple for grizzled dudes who have seen more mosh pits than dates makes him the realest of the deals. This rave-up from the Parachutes LP is so positively life-affirming in it’s fucked-up-ness, it makes most of that stuff modified with the p-word as necessary as fidget spinners, mood rings and slap bracelets. The song you need when you want to beat the shit out of someone who did you wrong. While crying.
GERARD WAY, “How It’s Going To Be”
So many tracks to pick from Alien, but this reverb-soaked paean seems to the best way to end a list celebrating one of the planet’s most uncompromising bands. None of us were in the room when MCR made the decision to break up, but when Gerard sings, “And I wouldn’t lie/I never really wanted more/Than what I ever really needed after all,” you can’t help but feel his gang had nowhere they needed to go, their mission accomplished.
