XO [LP], Leathermouth, Vinyl

Frank Iero has had enough. After years of keeping anger and rage bottled up, he can no longer contain it. In 2007, Iero, guitarist of the hugely popular rock band My Chemical Romance, reached his tipping point and created LeATHERMOUTH with Rob Hughes, a friend from Iero’s home state of New Jersey. “I think there is a void of bands that are outspoken on things that actually matter,” explains Iero. “There’s too much bad hair and white belts. Sometimes it nice to turn your brain off and just listen to someone sing about girls. I’m not knocking it. I do think there is a time and a place. But LeATHERMOUTH isn’t like that...it’s about hate. Hate that boils up inside and eats away at you, if you don’t vomit it up you know it will eventually destroy you.” Tired of the misdirected blame in school shootings, overmedicating kids and nefarious politicians among other things, Iero viciously explodes with pent up frustration on XO, spewing his aggression out in a rapid fire succession. XO is a call to action with thick speeding rock riffs inciting listeners with brutal hostility, inculcating a sense of urgency with the controversial track “Catch Me If you Can,” which likens the NYPD to Jack the Ripper, “Sunsets Are For Muggings,” about being robbed of your childhood\ by drugs and therapy and “5th Period Massacre,” which points the finger at bullying students as the cause a school shooting.