Single Recs:My Chemical Romance x 2

My Chemical Romance has released two singles from their forthcoming album,Danger Days:The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys,and they are fucking brilliant. This band continues to reinvent itself in amazing new ways.

Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) Explicit

I’ve been waiting for forever to hear this song. The teaser trailer was exquisite torture. Not only did we get to hear a little of the new song,but we got to see a little of this mad crazy world they had dreamt up.

The mad crazy world they’ve dreamt up. That to me is a huge selling point. As a listener I need context. I need a narrative to pull me in to the world of the album,of the band. I want to be told a fantastic story that engages as many senses as possible and sweeps me away into another world.

And this song does just that.

Starting from the opening guitar riff and the driving drums,you know you’re going to be dragged into this world whether you’re ready for it or not. This song demands that you get involved,that you participate,that you shout back/along with. And that’s just part of its genius.

There are the lyrics that are just so over the top while being utterly sincere. Even lines that could be considered silly absolutely work here in the context of the song. In the context of this band that is so very good at reinventing itself.

This song makes you move. If you can sit passively while this song plays you are just not listening. It fires you up and makes you want to move.

I heard this song and I knew,absolutely knew,that when My Chemical Romance’s tour came through my town I would be out there. Not in a nice comfortable seat,but down in the pit. So that I could experience this song the way it is meant to be experienced:surrounded by my fellow fans,bodies pressed together,pushing forward toward the stage,singing our lungs out.

This song is made for live music and it will be epic.

The Only Hope For Me Is You

The thing about this song is that it is not,on the album,directly following Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) (Explicit). There are three songs between “Na Na Na”and “The Only Hope For Me Is You”and it shows. This song has a very different tone to it. It’s not as over the top,petal to the floor,racing across the desert. It’s more reflective.

It begins with an almost space-sound effect,reminiscent of glam rock &pop of days gone by. But that’s only the beginning. Shortly the song changes up into an almost ballad,but a hard driving one with a beat pushing it forward faster than most ballads move at.

There is a wistful element to this song that isn’t present in Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) (Explicit),which I think speaks to the progression of the narrative of the album. Exactly what that narrative is remains obscured due to us having only 2 song so far. But I think it shows balance and self-awareness in the structure of the album and I find that hopeful.

My Chemical Romance is highly skilled at creating coherent narratives for their albums,and I expect this album to live up to that fully.

It did take me 3 listens before I could really *get* this song. I had been so caught up in the energy of Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) (Explicit) that I expected this song to be the same. I’m glad that it is not. This song shows the arc of the story of the album. And that,by far,is more intriguing and entertaining to me.