Classic Album

Brand New- The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me

I'm going to be reviewing my favorite albums a few times a week and labeling them as "Classics" because to me they are, and yes I know that is completely arguable and subjective but bare with me. I'm not scoring them because if I consider it a "classic" then it's a 10/10.

There are few albums like this. I don't really know how to accurately describe it but I'll do the best I can. This album sounds like crashing into rock bottom quite frankly. The way this album makes me feel.... it makes me feel like finding out someone I know has used hard drugs for the first time, that deep deep sour feeling in the pit of my stomach. This album still after three years of me enjoying it, makes my neck hair stand up at some moments.This is a disclaimer before you dive into this album. There's no hope, no joy, no nothing..just a barren landscape of nothingness. Now that word "enjoying" I wouldn't say anyone enjoys this album, not in a conventional sense anyway. The feeling.... the word for ingesting this album is more complex then that. But for the sake of this review, sure I'll say I "enjoyed" this album.

With the opening of the first track (Sowing Season) you can recognize some of Brand New's trademark elements from the genre defining Deja Entendu, the first being the music going from dark to light sounds, this gives the music a very contained spastic feel to it. And the second being the very thick vocals, except this time around they're a little less Morrissey-like. Instead these are some of the most haunting yells one can imagine, they truly encapsulate agony at it's best. They sound like reaching into an endless well of disappointment in yourself and bathing in it. These vocals sound like Jesse Lacey is so frustrated at times that he's torn between killing himself or killing everyone around him. The second track (Milestone) has some of very interesting guitar work that kind of resemble sirens if you listen hard enough in the first verse, that is sort of Radiohead-esque. That is probably also one of the more accessible songs on the album. Milestone is about growing up and being disappointed in the person you've become. "Jesus" was the only radio single spawned from this album and I think that's rightfully so as it has some of the softest vocals on the album (with the exception of "Handcuffs") and has a guitar line that is almost Modest Mouse-esque. It's easily the least offensive track on the album to mainstream listeners. "Degausser" starts out slow and quietly then turns into a huge groove that drives the whole song. In this song  and "Not The Sun" (track 8) we see the return of the awesome bass work that was done on Deja. On "Degausser" there is a noticeable echo on the vocals, I think it's supposed to create the illusion of coming out of something empty and hallow. "Limousine" has some really quiet yet disturbing vocals and come really fantastic Neutral Milk Hotel-like horns towards the end. It's also sort of an epic, clocking in at 7:42. "You Won't Know" is a sort of center piece for this album is often played last at shows. It's a song about how he's not sure he's good enough to get into heaven and how his lover won't know he's dead. "Welcome to Bangkok" is an instrumental track that I can best describe as sounding like an on coming storm. Both "Luca" and "Archers" resemble Deja quite a bit. "Luca" has one the most blood curdling yells I've ever heard. The last track "Handcuffs" is arguably the best of Brand New's career. Jesse Lacey utters a line that even his mentor Morrissey would be jealous of  "I'd drown all these crying babies if I knew that their mothers wouldn't cry. I'd hold them down and I'd squeeze real soft to let a piece of myself die".

For fans of: As Cities Burn Come Now, Sleep// Neutral Milk Hotel In The Aeroplane Over The Sea// Balance & Composure

Spotify