Brand New
Brand New are an emo band from New York. When I first heard of them, I assumed that they were yet another pretty boy group that whines about heartbreak constantly and attempts to use "deep" metaphors, and quickly dismissed them without hearing any of their music. When perfectly credible punk sites started putting Deja Entendu at the tops of all their "Best of 2003" lists, I started reconsidering my stance on Brand New. The aforementioned CD was about the only thing I could afford with a gift certificate I had, so I decided to give it a try. Needless to say, Brand New aren't so bad after all.
Your Favorite Weapon (2001)
7 Thumbs Up
The first thing I noticed about this CD is how amazingly pop-punk it is, while still retaining a streak of emo. It made me think of New Found Glory learning how to use a thesaurus. Anyway, at this stage of the game, Brand New is really nothing special. This album could have been made by a million other pop-punk bands who just got dumped by their girlfriends. However, the way they write their songs, regardless of how pop-punk the instrumental is, suggests that they still have talent. The lyrics, while often bordering on cliche, aren't as simplistic and uninspired as the majority of pop-punk bands. You can tell that Brand New has potential to break out of the pop-punk/emo mold.
My favourite part of this incarnation of Brand New is just how vengeful they are. They aren't content to rock back and forth on their bed cutting themselves while their ex-girlfriend runs around with some hot jock (surprisingly)! On "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad," lead singer Jesse Lacey sings "I hope the next boy that you kiss has something terribly contagious," or even better, from "Seventy Times 7," "Think of me when you forget your seatbelt,
and again when your head goes through the windshield!" Oooh, cat fight! "Logan to Government Center" and "Failure By Design" aren't bad either, but the rest of the songs are dragged down by predictable pop-punk instrumental structures. But like I said, the saving grace is that the lyrics aren't bad.
Deja Entendu (2003)
8 Thumbs Up
More people than just me must've thought Your Favorite Weapon came off as predictable, because Brand New went in the studio and wrote a whole bunch of songs that sound sorta like...prog rock? Yeah, I was surprised too. The songs on here are very different from what I've heard out of the emo genre so far. They aren't predictable, and the instrumental work is varied and intriguing. Best of all, Brand New's lyrical ability has somehow gotten even better. I was a bit nervous to listen to this CD; figuring I was in for a whole bunch of meaningless five minute angst-fests. But don't let the lengthy pretentious titles fool you: this album is damn good.
"Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades," with it's pumping bass beat, and the pop-punky "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows" are the standout tracks, but the acoustic "I Will Play My Game Beneath the Spin Light" (see what I said about really long titles?) is my personal favourite - partly because they discuss how they hate their teeneybopper fanbase. Hey, at least they're honest. "Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't" (it's good, but not as good as its title implies) is another lash out at the commercial music industry. I'm just happy to see that these emo kids have gained some balls. Hopefully, they'll ditch what remains of their trendy image and keep improving their style.
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