With Brand New’s New Album to Hit Stores September 22nd, Here’s a Look At Their Last Album

by Theo Siggelakis in Album Reviews, Indie Release Highlights, Reviews, What's New

     Many people probably wondered how Brand New was to follow up there 2003 Emo Rock masterpiece Deja Entendu. The album’s success was unheard of for a band of their genre, as the band landed the cover of Seventeen magazine, air time on TRL, and even the approval of veteran rock critic Rolling Stone magazine. To top this fairytale of an album release, they got a record deal with DreamWorks Entertainment, estimated at a worth of one million dollars. So come November 6^th, 2005 the release date of The Devil In and God Raging Inside of Me, a lot was resting on the shoulder’s of Brand New.

     Brand New’s follow up release was everything the doctor had ordered. The album possessed the right collection of songs to hold any dedicated Brand New fan engaged while it also seemed to have a certain intensity and inflection of emotion to reach out to a new group of indie music listeners. The album seems to be a perfect continuation to the ending of their last album Deja Entendu. All the songs keep the same dark, melancholy mood, that is present in songs from their last album, but now it felt like the band had just turned it up a notch, like Star Wars V: Empire Strikes Back was the perfect sequel to Star Wars or how Godfather 2 was an awesome sequel to The Godfather, The Devil and God Raging inside of me was a genius follow up album for Brand New. The new album was the transition the group needed as a band to break through their once held title as emo supergroup.  Instead of being compared with bands like Good Charlotte, Brand New found themselves being compared to more a more respected group of bands, as Alternative Press Magazine proclaimed them as America’s Radiohead. 

     Although The Devil and God are Raging Inside of Me slightly echoes Brand News’s last album it still possessed a new more mature sound from the band ,just like Brand’s New’s last album Deja Entendu was a big change in the maturity of sound from their 2001 debut My Favorite Weapon. The most obvious changes in the band between this album and the last are the extraordinarily dramatic dynamic changes ,more grown up lyrics  and creative instrumentation; you can tell this band isn’t in high school anymore.  Just from listening to the first minute of the album’s opener “Sowing Season” you can tell this album has a tendency to hit the listener by surprise. The song starts out in a low whisper with a quiet picked guitar part, yet it picks up like a tornado and becomes almost violent, as Lacey’s vocals go into a panicking scream behind a huge wall of drums and guitar riffs.

     The album continues to surprise on the next standout song of the album, “Jesus Christ”. The song really displays some of Lacey’s finest abilities as a lyricist to date. As he went from singing lines like”I’ve seen more guts in 11 year old kids” in the song “Seventy Times Seven” which are lyrics reflective of the emotions he feels towards other people, to self evaluating lyrics with songs like “Jesus Christ” .With the single’s  opening lines “Jesus Christ that’s a pretty face, the kind you’d find on someone that could save, if they don’t put me away it will be a miracle” you can see that Lacey has done away with complaining about ex girlfriends; these lyrics are on a whole new level. When you hear this song it feels like it crawls right through you, up and down the spine.  With its slow and steady guitar part, that is not boring but yet melodically soothing.  Although “Jesus Christ” is a standout song on the album it’s the rock songs on the album that really showcase the evolution of Brand New.

      Rock songs on the album like “These Archers have Bowed” ,“You Won’t Know” and “ Not The Sun” really secure the band a place on the alternative rock top 10 rather than a modern rock countdown. As the band utilizes their ability to change dynamics dramatically, as well as play their instruments in a way that demonstrates an unseen ability to really strike the emotions. Lead guitarist Vin Accardi shows this off with his guitar parts on the beginning of the songs like “These Archers have Bowed” and “You Won’t Know”, which strike you the minute you press play. These guitar parts almost feel like they speak without anyone singing. As one listens to the album it feels like a real fist pumper but the element that makes these songs alternative is nothing feels dry and cliché but rather creative and innovative. As many of the guitar parts barely seem like your hearing a guitar but rather something else. On the song “Not The Sun” the guitar part that follows the bass intro feels like some weird exotic synth more than a guitar but that’s just Vin Accardi doing what he does best.  This album tends to rock much like something between the lines of an old Modest Mouse album or something by Radiohead.

     The other aspect of the album that feels alternative is the instrumental tracks on the album. Track’s seven and ten are instrumental, both songs are composed of odd sounds and voices. Track seven named “Welcome to Bangkok” has a lot more live instrumentation then track ten untitled and is much more well worth the listener’s time. Both songs however, make the listener question “ Is this still the same band that released the pop punk album of the year just four years ago?”

     The album ends on the acoustic track “Handcuffs”, but the song’s lyrics come from a new source: lead guitarist Vin Accardi. This song however, is a notable track and is worth listening to. Although, it may not measure up to the band’s prior album closers “Soco Almerato Lime” or “Play Crack The Sky” the song still holds its own. The lyrics are very depressing and sad, talking of emotions of destruction with lines “I’d drown all these crying babies/I’d rob whole families blind/it’s hard to better man, when you forget your trying” but have a surprising light feel for such a graphic description. The way that Lacey’s voice climbs up in down in a high falsetto for most of the song with some great string arrangements in the background make this song feel more inspiring then melancholy.

     Overall, this album is worth buying, not one or two songs but rather the whole thing. To be further enjoyed, buying it on vinyl isn’t a terrible idea either as it does rock a lot like last year’s best seller on vinyl: In Rainbows by Radiohead. Brand New has announced that the albums follow up will be released on Septermber 22^st 2009,and will be named Daisy.