Released: March 7th 2005

Taking their name from a novel by Irvine Welsh, My Chemical Romance set themselves up to be just as strange and twisted. They are not Scottish in the least (actually hailing from New Jersey), but manage their undertaking of providing vindictive angst with seeming ease.

‘I’m Not Okay (I Promise)’, the lead single off of their breakthrough (though not first) album, ‘Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge’, is most likely just what made it such a success. It’s not particularly emo or screamo, which works in their favour. It’s strong lyrically and musically, a good thing for a song vying for the popular song charts.

The video displays the typical school day for that social misfit, creatively cut as a movie trailer. And they may look like stand-ins for The Used, but the music is far more palatable.

Promising, promising.

Previously published on This Is Fake DIY.