If you're searching for a dose of party music or feel-good escapism, you won't find it on
I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
. Lyrically, this debut album by
My Chemical Romance
is definitely on the dark side; lyrics like "The amount of pills I'm taking counteracts the booze I'm drinking" (from
"Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us"
) and "I think I'll love to die alone" (from
"Cubicles"
) are typical of the New Jersey band's less than rosy outlook. But like so many angst-ridden
alternative pop/rock
and
punk-pop
artists who have emerged in the early 2000s,
know how to be exuberant and introspective at the same time -- musically, they tend to be aggressive and hard rocking, but lyrically, they're all about introspection. And that combination certainly isn't unique; from
Nirvana
to
blink-182
Creed
-- from
post-grunge
emo
-- plenty of
alterna-rockers
have demonstrated that a band can
rock
aggressively and be introspective at the same time. But if
are less than groundbreaking, they're good at what they do. Produced by
Thursday
's lead singer,
Geoff Rickly
,
is a generally decent effort -- one that deals with a lot of negative emotions and does so in a very candid way. Some will find the lyrics depressing, but then,
music isn't obligated to press the smile button 24 hours a day. Sadness, pessimism, anger, disillusionment -- none of which are difficult to find on this album -- are, like happiness, pleasure, and optimism, valid areas of
expression.
falls short of exceptional, but it's a noteworthy, generally respectable debut for the New Jersey combo. ~ Alex Henderson