MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE had nearly finished a dark, Stooges-influenced LP when frontman Gerard Way came to an important realization: He hated it. “We were just trying to be American’s young rock band,” he recalls.
“We did that, and what came back was horrifying.” They scrapped the recorded and started over, writing and recording a new set of songs mostly synth-happy, technicolor pop tunes, complete with an unabashed dance beat on “Planetary (GO!).”
Like the band’s latest album, 2006 Black Parade, the new disc has a new unifying conceit: It’s supposed to be a transformation from a post-apocalyptic radio station in 2019.
“It’s a party record,” says Way. “The scariest thing was to admit to ourselves that we wanted to have a good time.” Way is particularly fond of the obnoxiously catchy opening track. “Na Na Na.” “It’s the punk-rock ‘Hey Ya’,” he says.
“It sounds like a big gang of children yelling. It’s dumb as fuck, really.”
Thanks to f***yeahgway for the scan.
The set release date for the new album is November 22nd!
