Frank Iero enters The Future Violents era with 'Young and Doomed'

With  'Barriers' arriving in May, Frank Iero forges into The Future Violents era with 'Young and Doomed'. [PC: MITCHELL WOKCIK].

For Frank Iero, first came the cellarbration, then the PATIENCE, and now in 2019, The Future Violents arrives, seeing him bashing down introspective walls.

With new album 'Barriers' on the horizon - recorded and mixed by Steve Albini and dropping May 31st, 2019 via UNFD - a new era for the solo artist kicks off with LP #3. And for Frank himself, a new album means him tackling difficult personal subjects that are quite scary for him. Doubled up with that fear of putting so much of yourself out there for the whole world to see, hear and pick apart. But as he says, those moments are when he knows he has to write about something and address it in song form; when it terrifies the shit out of him, that's a good sign. He shares:

"...but whenever I find something that scares the shit out of me, that’s when I know I have to do it! And so these songs are about experiences that were either walls I wanted to break down or walls that I’d built up around myself in order to protect myself. But these songs were also things that I’d never attempted before but had always wanted to try.”

On this forthcoming record's lead single, 'Young and Doomed', Frank Iero and the Future Violents - Frank, guitarist Evan Nestor, bassist Matt Armstrong, drummer Tucker Rule (ex-Thursday) and synths/keys player, U.S. folk-singer Kayleigh Goldsworthy - thrash their instruments around with their usual soft-then-loud alternative/punk dynamic. It's distorted, it's a little grungy, and it's a little messy even. There's even a playful little jab at 'I'm Not Okay' (I Promise)' with the line "And I promise that I'm not okay/oh wait - that's the other guy".

With childhood photos of Frank and other members shown in the song's film clip, super-imposed over their now older-selves, this track is a matter of reflecting on your youth and upbringing; how while parents wish to keep their kids safe, the injuries that children receive (both emotional or physical) are like guiding scars that can help them become who they are as adults. Frank's music has often had this theme of youthful fecklessness, that kids can be quite cruel, that the grass is often so much greener on the other side when we're teenagers, and a very real danger or fear of growing up. And that's all felt here too.

However, honestly, this track just doesn't do it for me. It doesn't have the same infectious hooks and simple yet also effective song-writing that largely stood out on great tracks like 'I'm A Mess', 'Weighted', 'Joyriding', and 'The Resurrectionist, or an Existential Crisis in C#'. Despite the solid new line-up additions, there's not much to it nor much going on: where's the hooks, guys? Without much bite or bark, 'Young and Doomed' is kind of a "nothing" song. I'm sorely hoping that this upcoming new record will fair much better overall. As I love seeing Frank put himself out there and continue to do music these days.

Anyway, feel youthful and defeated below: