Hesitant Alien, the debut record from ex-My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way,is different. In lieu of dramatic darkness and heroic-escapisms employed in My Chem, the albumsees Way return to his roots, adopting musical maturity through zesty shoegaze rock.
Hesitant Alien opens with Bowie-esque number The Bureau: a personal commentary of showbiz that enthrals with gritty guitars, complacent drums and punchy lines – “They’re gonna make you a star/To get you all to behave” – before transitioning to sound-wall Action Cat –a typical shoegaze track, full of muffled vocals and guitar noise that reestablishes the lyrical depth that becomes recurrent throughout Hesitant Alien.
No Shows draws upon Way’s brit-pop influences – Pulp and My Bloody Valentine, among many – with rich harmonies wrapped around a guitar backbone while criticising the glamour of showbiz – “we don’t need no shows” – and suggesting that music is an intrinsic connection between artists and fans.
Brother is a diamond. Lyrically, it embodies the tender relationship between Way and his younger brother, Mikey; stringing up his affection on bittersweet piano rhythms and pure melodies, whilst creating a sense of helpless melancholy through sublime vocal superposition. Millions builds off this with a lighter tone, where Way sporadically adopts a falsetto, combining shoegaze and dream-pop into a catchy road-trip number.
In Zero Zero and Juarez, Way sonically tributes The Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream (1993) through distorted metal and heavy drums while Drugstore Perfume provides the balladic break the album needs. Get the Gang Together picks up the pace through energetic percussion and the expressive vocals that Way is known for. Second-last track, How It’s Going To Be, is a stranger among the album. Full of Dylan undertones, it stands better alone than as part of the album. Way neatly closes the album with dream-pop number, Maya the Psychic: a song about mental illness inspired by personal experience and Kazuya Kudō manga Mai, the Psychic Girl.
Overall, Hesitant Alien is an excellent debut. It’s screams Gerard Way. It’s raw, it’s gritty and it’s pure rock’n’roll.
BY AVRILLE BYLOK-COLLARD
Best Tracks: Brother
If You Like This, You’ll Like This: Crocodiles, My Bloody Valentine, Pulp, The Horrors, The Smashing Pumpkins
In A Word: Rock’n’roll grime
