Posts Tagged ‘Brand New’
Brand New – Daisy
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
Aaron’s List Second Half of 2009 Releases
The first half of 2009 has brought us a recession, due to people trying to live beyond their means, a pandemic, due to people living too close to those beyond their species and a slew of decent releases. Of those releases only one, Taking Back Sunday’s New Again, was apart the list of anticipated albums that I tacked on to the end of my Best Of 2008 review back in December.
So, at this half way point, with some new information, let’s take a look at a few albums that are going to come out in the second, hopefully disease free, half of 2009.
Thrice – Beggars
Due out: October
Thrice’s last release was the very ambitious 4 EP collection The Alchemy Index, that found the band taking the experimentation that began with 2005’s Vheissu to a whole different level. With the four different styles represented on each of the EP’s, it will be interesting to see what road Thrice goes down on Beggars. Regarding Beggars, Thrice front man Dustin Kensrue released the following statement:
“I think we are at most times deluded in thinking that we are totally responsible for our circumstances, but in the end almost everything is beyond our control to a high degree and we can’t even be sure we will wake up tomorrow. Whether you believe that God created you for a purpose, or that the world is governed by blind chance, everything in life is a gift at its core; we are beggars all.”
The Used – Artwork
Due out: September 1st
The Used’s last studio LP was 2007’s Lies for the Liar, a highly produced album, that saw the band stray further than ever from the dirty brand of post hardcore that won them a rabid fan base following the release of 2002’s incredible self titled album.
The Used’s lead singer Bert McKracken had this to say about their impending Artwork “In the past, we’ve always kind of brought pop sensibility into heavy rock, but this is going to be all that much more tantalizing and brutal. Our songs are 10 times messier and noisier than they’ve ever been. This record is about coming to grips with how much you really hate yourself and knowing you can never hate yourself to the full extent, so you’re free to hate yourself as much as you want to we haven’t been this excited about an album since our self titled back in 2002.”
The Fall Of Troy – Still Untitled
Due Out: Fall
At the moment little has been said about The Fall of Troy’s follow up to the entirely original LP Manipulater in 2007 and the long gestating Phantom on the Horizon which began life as the Ghostship Demos before being officially released.
What is known is that Fall of Troy get better and tighter with every release and with Protest the Hero front man Rody Walker on board for a guest appearance, this album will definitely be something to behold.
The Fall Of Troy – The Dark Trail
The Ataris – Still Untitled
Due Out: Summer
One of theses things is not like the others, but out of many of the impending releases, the forth coming Ataris disc is the most intriguing. After achieving a ridiculous amount of success for 2003’s So Long Astoria due to the single Boys Of Summer. Anyone who’s followed the Ataris knows that success didn’t go over well and Kris Roe, lead singer and songwriter, took the band in a completely different direction with 2007’s Welcome the Night, and album that was dark and brooding, but still infused with Roe’s honest and poignant lyrics .
For Night’s follow-up Roe has said that the band will be getting back to their older sound and rumors have even said that the track Fast Times at Drop Out High, from 2001’s End Is Forever will be re-recorded and included on the new disc.
If the only song released so far, All Souls Day is any indication, the band have not entirely done away with the darker edgier sound they were bringing with Welcome The Night, but have instead infused it with some of the pop-punk energy and aesthetic that the band first became known for.
Theses are just a few of the impending albums that could drop in the second half of this year, but if they do it promises to be a bright year coming December and if the rumours of Brand New squeezing a new album into the queue than 2009 could take us into the end of the decade in fucking brilliant fashion.
The important thing to remember about music is that it’s always changing, so get out there and try something new, cause you never know what you’ll like until you’ve heard it.
Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing
Manchester Orchestra have been the subject of underground rumblings since there debut album, 2007’s I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child, sent up smoke signals that alerted the entire country side to forthcoming greatness. Greatness that they cashed in on with the stellar Mean Everything To Nothing.
Let’s get this straight, I listen to rumblings, but I don’t put much stock in them, and to be honest, I haven’t fallen hard for a record in a long time, but i’ve listened to little else since Mean Everything’s April 21st release.
Vocalist Andy Hull’s haunting lilt opens the album stating, “I am the only one, who thinks I’m going crazy, and I don’t know what to do.”
From there, he unabashedly wears his heart, lungs spleen and soul on his sleeve as he opens himself up, sharing doubts, fear, a lack of faith and a crisis of religious confusion, all sewn together into a masterpiece of an album.
Standout track I Can Feel A Hot One, is easily the best song to not be included on Brand New’s The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me. As it strikes a BN style balance between it’s slow and haunting opening to it’s chaotic breakdown, and back to the moment when Hull’s tempo changes completely the song turns sublime, and lyrics lend themselves to the realm of the deeply personal and highly elusive.
“And I realized that then you were perfect/ And my teeth ripping out of my head/ And it looked like a painting I once knew/ Back when my thoughts weren’t entirely intact.”
My Friend Marcus uses a popy, catchy premise to delve into deep, dark subject matter like Rivers Cuomo before major labels and a need to be popular drove his artistic side underground. While I’ve Got Friends, makes use of a soft and popy melody that breaks down into a deeply layered opus of southern rock and dark abandon.
Manchester Orchestra did what few bands can do and manged to not only live up to, but surpass their underground cred, craft an album that’s as close to perfect as anything that’s been released in a long time and set the bench mark for the race towards 2009’s album of the year, but by all means, don’t take my word for it, take the album out, buy it a few drinks and see if you don’t fall in love, or at the very least get your rocks off.
Manchester Orchestra – The Only One
Manchester Orchestra – I Can Feel A Hot One
