My Chemical Romance: Explosive chemicals

My Chemical Romance copes with sudden success

By Brock Radke

Only one vocation is cool enough for the employee to take only one week off over the course of a year, and instead of complaining, he couldn't be happier to report for duty every day. And that vocation is rock.

Gerard Way realistically estimates that he and his band, My Chemical Romance, have spent the past 2 1/2 years on the road. He can only recall a few days in 2004 when he didn't have to, well, rock.

Perhaps his positive attitude can be attributed to that weird, buzzy feeling you get when you've survived many nights without sleep, but more than likely it's because My Chemical Romance recently blew up. Rolling Stone placed the New Jersey quintet on its annual bands-on-the-rise list, single "I'm Not Okay" is all over rock radio with a video sliding into the MTV rotation, and the group's second album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, is quite possibly the catchiest rock record of the year.

It seems like an overnight success story for a band that has been together for less than three years.

"Right when the record came out, this change started happening that we weren't really used to," Way said from a recent tour stop in Nashville. "Ever since we started, we've been the kind of band that has had to fight for every fan, and then all of a sudden there's all these people singing along to every word. It's been pretty crazy."

Before Three Cheers was unleashed by Warner Bros. in June, MCR depended on support from its "crazy, cult-type fans," as Way puts it. The band's infectious blend of punk, glam, metal and goth rock influences and its willingness to tour heavily helped build a considerable underground following. Its first record, 2002's I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, was released on indie label Eyeball.

But the key to MCR's exposure was not just the major label deal; it has grown with the band's willingness to apply its sweeping, theatrical sound--perhaps an offshoot of Way's background as a comic book artist--to beloved pop song structure.

"We draw off so many influences--Iron Maiden and the Cure, the Smiths and Misfits--that I think it gives us a weird [sound]," said Way. "It might be hard to put us into a genre or it might not. But it's been a big advantage for us to not be afraid to play pop. We just try to write great songs, and take a pop melody and make our own sound out of it."

That doesn't mean a band with a do-it-yourself, punk rock attitude is working hard to impress the bland tastes of radio programmers. "`Pandering' is a word we're constantly using to describe what we won't do," Way says. "That's something we decided from the start. We've always been a band with the goal of reaching as many people as possible, but it's not like we'll do anything or take any [path] to make that happen."

While "I'm Not Okay," a song Way wrote about the alcoholism and depression he battled as a high-schooler, is garnering the most attention with its sweeping power choruses, it's hardly the sweetest ear candy on the new disc. The album vaguely follows the tale of two dead lovers, one of whom makes a deal with the devil in order to be reunited with the other. But it's hardly a full-on concept album; Way's lyrics are open for interpretation. Opener "Helena" is a chugging mini-epic, and on "Cemetery Drive," Way growls his way through verses about drinking at mausoleums before another huge chorus: "I miss you/ so far/ and the collision of your kiss/ that made it so hard."

"We made the decision to [have a concept] before we started working on the album, but that automatically puts you into a very small room and we didn't want to sacrifice any songs for [the concept]," says Way, summarizing the band's philosophy. "Every decision we've ever made has been thought about a great deal."