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![Getting Down: LEATHERMOUTH
BLUNT # 77
TO BE
QUITE
FRANK
a singer and maybe we'll do a record. So they had a
friend they tried out on vocals but it didn't work out
because he didn't write any lyrics. So they were just
like, "We're probably gonna scrap the band. I was like
There's no way you can kill this band!' Iasked them to
have one practice with me singing. I convinced them to
book a practice studio on a weekend and I wrote a few
lyrics and we had a practice and that was it."
For a long time LeATHERMOUTH was a studio-only
project, recording in lero's basement during times when
he wasn't touring the world with The Black Parade.
"We recorded everything with me and Rob (Hughes)
and couple of other guys. Now it's like two years later
and it's just me Rob left. The rest of guys that started
the band, a couple went off and started another band,
"The world is full of people that
are hiding from thestuff that's
going on in the world today.I
wanted to attack these things
head-on."-Frank lero
that broke up, some people got married, moved away,
whatever. So when we wanted to tour, we recruited
James DeWees (Get Up Kids, Reggie & The Full Effect)
to play drums, my friend John Maguire to play bass and
my other friend, Eddie Auletta, to play guitar."
Signed to indie godhead Epitaph/Shock, LeATHER
MOUTH will release their debut full-length, XO, this
January. Subscribing to an unwavering musical aes
thetic of relentless, heavy hardcore punk, XO's lyrical
tirades are directed towards everyone from the cops to
drug dealers to the government to school bullies. With
very little melodic ambition to speak of, lero screams
like a man literally bursting with things to say.
On the touring side of things, the band completed
a mini US tour in September with Reggie & The Full
Effect, followed in December by four dates support-
ing Mindless Self Indulgence
"That was a thing where convenience came into
play," lero says of the brief bouts of touring. "My
Chem was on tour, so of course my good friend James
DeWees was on tour with us, he plays keyboards with
My Chem. We were talking about doing other bands
and stuff, we'd been practicing on the road and we
decided a LeATHERMOUTH tour would be cool. James
HOLD ONTO YOUR FRINGES MY
CHEMICAL ROMANCE FANS FRANK
IERO IS ONE PISSED OFF DUDE AND
LEATHERMOUTH IS ONE PISSED-OFF
SIDE-PROJECT. BY MATT
REEKIE
hallenging an audience to think is tanta-
mount to commercial suicide in the rock
game. So it's a damn lucky thing that shift
ing units was the last thing on My Chemical
Romance guitarist Frank lero's mind when
he conceived LeATHERMOUTH
Pissed off at the world and all the evil sons of
bitches in it, LeATHERMOUTH is set to inflame debate
both musical and political. The group's hardcore punk
sound is too brutal and unrelenting to appeal to a
mass audience, but that's beside the point as far as
My Chem then for one, they would probably be really
disappointed and two, very offended.
"Another reason I wanted to keep it anonymouUS
is because I was a little scared of what people would
think. But on the other hand, I don't want to run away
from anything or pretend that I didn't say some of the
things I've said. The world is full of people that are hid-
ing from the stuff that's going on in the world today.
wanted to attack these things head-on. People are
so PC, parents want to shield their kids' eyes to what's
actually going on, and I think that's just adding to the
misery that's running rampant in the world today."
Formed in New Jersey in 2007 by some friends of
lero, including Rob Hughes, LeATHERMOUTH could just
as easily have never happened. To hear lero explain the
whole story, one starts to understand how much his
own personal passion and drive brought the thing to
life. Clearly,he needed this outlet
"It was actually right before [My Chemical Ro-
mance] recorded The Black Parade," he begins. "I was
back home, we had taken some time off, and a couple
of my friends were thinking of starting a new band.
"I remember it like it was yesterday. It was right
before we were going to see a movie; we were in the
parking lot of the movies and we all crowded into their
Volkswagen. They played me this 3 song demo, there
were no vocals or anything like that, just simple verse-
chorus punk rock, and I was like, Wow, how can I be
involved with this band?
"I have my record label, Skeleton Crew that Irun
with a few friends so I told these guys they should find
was going to do a Reggie & The Full Effect tour, so
we decided that I'd play in Reggie with him and we'd
both do LeATHERMOUTH
"We had done a few shows here and there but
it never felt real until we did the Reggie & The Full
Effect tour. It actually felt like the band was finally
doing things after two years of just recording in my
basement. All these emotions started to come out
and the shows just got better every day. By the time
we were like, 'This is turning into something incred-
ible,' the tour was over. We were like, "We need to
lero is concerned
book something else.' But then life comes in and you
have to do certain things."
These "certain things" for lero include his duties
with My Chemical Romance, which will almost
certainly ensure that LeATHERMOUTH gigs are fewer
and farther between in 2009.
It remains to be seen whether the thrashy hardcore
sound of LeATHERMOUTH will influence lero's con-
tribution to the new MCR album. He's fairly certain it
won't, but he's not ruling
anything out
"That's the thing with My
Chem, you never say never
because anything can come
out.I don't know what will
"If I kept this inside any longer, I would probably
explode," he says flatly of the project, which features
himself on vocals alongside an old Jersey friend, Rob
Hughes, on guitar
LeATHERMOUTH inhabits a completely different
realm to the highly commercial one ruled over by My
Chemical Romance. Likewise, it's a long way from the
singer/songwriter folk ballads, electronica dabbling,
or white boy rap that so often rear their ugly heads
when members of popular rock bands embark upon
side-projects. LEATHERMOUTH is all about hard, fast
LEATHERMOUTH
and raw punk rock.
"It's not better than My Chem, it's not worse than
My Chem, it's just different, and I really feel like I need
both," lero states. In an effort to soften the blow for
MCR fans, he stresses that the two bands could not be
more dissimilar. "Originally I thought maybe l'd keep
it completely anonymous. I thought if people would
automatically check this out solely because they like
ATHEAMAUTH
Xo
happen. Maybe we'll throw
a heavy-ass breakdown on
the new record? I'd put my
money on no, but you never
can tell." B
XO is out on
January 24th
on Epitaph
through Shock.
demolitonlover:
Blunt Magazine, February 2009 (x x)
Additional record review which was not scanned and received 8 out of 10:When guitarist for New Jersey pretty boys My Chemical Romance, Frank Iero, gets some time away from the band, he likes to relax by getting down in his basement with his other band and screaming till the veins pop out in his forehead. He’s been doing this for the past few years, making recordings with some friends under the banner, LeATHERMOUTH. XO, the full-length debut by the side-project, is brutal hardcore with raw, savage production (it really was recorded in Iero’s basement) and lyrics that are matched for passion and aggression by the guttural delivery. There’s no pop hooks, no emo choruses - nothing to cry over, but plenty to get you fired up. While on one hand it’s sure to attract a lot of curious My Chem fans, mayn of whom are sure to either disappointed or downright frightened, this connection mean it’s also liable to miss its target market slightly due to the fact that regular fans of this type of raging hardcore are sure to be put off by Iero’s day job. Too bad for the snobs who think that way - they’re missing out big time.](https://pics.onsizzle.com/leathermouth-blunt-77-to-be-quite-frank-a-singer-61998442.png)
