AWmusic

Brand New are in a position that many bands would both dread and be envious of.

Since the release of 2001’s Your Favorite Weapon Brand New has achieved cult status, and attained a rabid fan base that only grew with the release of 2003’s incredible, genre defining Deja Entendu.

The band took there time crafting one of the best albums ever when they recorded 2006’s The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, an album that was at once powerful, graceful and poetic, while pushing their sound to the limit, both technically and emotionally, with tracks like Millstone, Jesus and Degausser.

Daisy finds Brand New straying from their previous clean, well produced style for a dirtier in your face vibe. The change in vibe is not surprising once you learn that guitarist Vincent Accardi took over primary song writing duties from front man Jesse Lacey for this album. The resulting sound is more akin to 90’s grunge than to anything you would have anticipated on the follow up to The Devil and God.

The album starts out with a lilting choral hymn before breaking into Vices, a track that has to be considered the hardest song in Brand New’s catalog. Lacey displays a whole different side to his voice, as he shreds his vocals, while the backing vocals recall a time when Scott Weiland had found the right dose of heroine and condescension and the Stone Temple Pilots still mattered.

The lead single, At The Bottom does a great job of walking the line between the new sound found on Daisy and the direction that they were heading on Devil and God. The dark, pondering lyrics run the theme of death, and burrying a loved one in a way that is distinctly Brand New.

The slow and melodic You Stole is a definite stand out, and is the most reminiscent of Deja Entendu era Brand New, as the song crawls along, with distortion weaving it’s way through the background, creating an oddly simple complexity over which Lacey’s voice can find a place to call home, the way it did on older songs, like Me vs. Maradona vs. Elvis. Lyrics like: So if I’m a liar and you’re a thief/At least we both know where the other one sleeps/So let’s end this tonight , wouldn’t work coming from anyone but Lacey.

Sink is another track where Lacey stretches his vocals in a different direction, alternating between a solid scream and sweet croon, all wrapped up in a utterly frenetic package that delves deep into the darkest places in the soul of Brand New, which is some scary deep darkness.

Both fans and detractors are likely to find issue with different points on Daisy. I did, the first time through, believing that i wasn’t even listening to Brand New. But just as both The Devil and God are Raging Inside me and Deja Entendu are instantly amazing, but require more listening to truly comprehend their depth, Daisy will leave you feeling odd the first time through, but a deeper listen will no doubt lead you to the real Brand New dwelling there within the grungey feedback, and loud choruses. Like a homeless man with a heart of gold. At first you want to avoid him, and not give up your change, but if you stop to talk to him you’ll realize how much depth he truly possess.

Brand New wrote the book on pushing their music in different directions, and although Daisy isn’t the best chapter in the book, it’s still definitely worth reading.

Brand New – Vices
Brand New – At the Bottom
Brand New – You Stole

Tags: Aaron Long, album, At The Bottom, Brand New, Dasiy, degausser, Deja Entendu, Jesse Lacey, Jesus, Me. Vs. Maradonna vs. Elvis, Millstone, Scott Weiland, Stone Temple Pilots, The Devil And Got Are Raging Inside Me, Vices, You Stole, Your Favorite Weapon