Punk is a hard genre to kill, and its musicians are even harder. When you can survive anything the world throws out at you, and still find the energy to go on is no easy feat. With Frank Iero and his latest side project, that is exactly the case. Coming off a recent bus accident in Sydney and having to cancel the rest of his 2016 tours, Frank Iero has proven to be a man who has lived a long life and has a lot to share with the world. That is where is latest record “Parachutes” comes in.

Frank Iero was born in New Jeresy and is most notably known for being a guitarist in the emo punk rock band My Chemical Romance. That was not really his only band as Iero has had several side projects throughout the years. He has had a hand in 13 different records. From solo to big name bands, Iero has really done it all, and is trying to cement his place as one of the biggest names in punk rock as possibly one of the hardest working musicians in the scene. His latest project Frank Iero and The Patience, is really more about him being a much more comfortable musician than ever before. Which brings us to his punk fueled record of “Parachutes.”

“Parachutes” is a 12-track record that clocks out to be around 44 minutes long. The whole record from front to back is mixed incredibly well. From the get go it is loud and in your face, in a good way too. This record is nothing but pure energy and contains a lot of raw emotion as well. This is what you would expect from someone who has been in the game now for years, this record hardly slows down and when it does, it is done in a way that is both tasteful and purposeful. This record is meant to be listened to from front to back for the full effect, but you can have no problem cherry picking a few favorite tracks out of the record as well.

Musically, this record relies a lot of the rhythm guitar and drums to drive all the songs. You won’t hear a lot of that basic four chord nonsense here, since most of this record is about the progression, most of the tracks masterfully manage to accomplish. When you are listening to tracks like “Viva Indifference” or “I’m a Mess,” the tracks are composed in such a way that it takes you on a rollercoaster ride while listening to it. Individually, it builds up and releases several times throughout each track, a common occurrence throughout the entire record. There are some slower tracks on this record as well. Tracks like “Remedy” or “Miss Me” are the two much needed slower tracks on the record that give the listener a rest before it picks up all over again and is back in your face. Overall, the music was incredibly well done to help reflect the vocals.

Lyrically, this record is raw and emotional. Frank Iero really is not holding back when it comes to his song writing. The main point of “Parachutes” is that it wants to be heard. As loud as possible too. That’s why in tracks like “They Wanted Darkness…” or “Oceans” it’s a bit more meaningful when Iero is singing rather than screaming in your face throughout the entire track. It doesn’t mean tracks like “The Resurrectionist, or an Existential Crisis in C#” or “World Destroyer” is not Iero putting his all into this tracks. Everything serves a much more personal role than you can really delve into without knowing the musician, but that is what makes relating to this tracks different. If you happen to really connect with them it is because it was written to be more for you than some generic, relatable track about relationships, like what we see most punk bands doing all the time.

Should you listen to it?: Yes

This is not your average punk or alternative record, but this is one of the most well-rounded and incredibly-produced records in the scene in the last few years. Despite everything that Frank Iero and his band have been through in recent weeks, they delivered a fantastic punk record that you should not ignore. Even if you were once a long time listener of My Chemical Romance, you do not want to miss out on this. Punk is a hard genre to kill, and Frank Iero proves that.