Brand New
Deja Entendu

THE REVIEW

The artistic career of the band originating from Long Island, New York, in many ways, can be likened to that of another highly renowned band in the underground circuits, namely Thrice.

Like the latter, the evolution and maturation of Brand New over the years is significant and in some ways unexpected: starting with a youthful pop-punk sound similar to that of Taking Back Sunday, as evidenced in "Your Favourite Weapon" (2001), the group with the second album "Deja Entendu" changes direction, moving towards a less vigorous and carefree sound, but one that is more deep and refined, achieving what can rightfully be called the album of maturity. Building from these coordinates, the third chapter "The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me" (2006) was conceived and developed, while "Daisy" was released a few months ago.

Now let's talk about "Deja Entendu" (2003), a title that, placed next to the band's name, becomes a rather amusing musical oxymoron.

11 tracks, with an intro of soft, subdued, and atmospheric tones included (the fantastic "Tautou"), good emo-rock/indie-rock with just a few small punk-rock shades, harkening back to the band's musical origins.

Three standout tracks? "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows," "Me vs. Maradona vs. Elvis," and "Guernica."

I chose these three compositions because they represent both the qualitative peak of the album and because each embodies a different side of the same picture.

"The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows": Probably the track that best describes the New York band, as well as their most well-known piece. It starts as a semi-ballad with calm tones, after a truly well-done intro, and then bursts into a remarkably captivating chorus.

"Me Vs. Maradona Vs. Elvis": a pearl dispensing pure emotions. A great ballad, an example of refined and elegant pop. A continuous series of melancholic arpeggios sustain the composition alone for three-quarters, until the entry of distorted guitars and drums, which accompany a choral finale worthy of applause, with the reprise of the chorus this time sung vigorously and almost liberatingly. An excellent mix of light and dark, distinct fullness and emptiness.

"Guernica": Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the same song. Dreamy and anguished verses, dark atmosphere, low tones, contrasting with explosive and fast choruses and a central part in which the good Jesse Lacey even ventures into scream tones. A rarity this, if we also exclude "Transit Gloria... Glory Fades" another fast track of the work with punk-rock/hc echoes. Enveloping and melancholic first with breathtaking riffing, aggressive later. It's a pity it lasts so little.

Other noteworthy episodes are indeed the vigorous explosions of "Transit Gloria... Glory Fades" with its hypnotic bass line supporting the remarkably hypnotic verses, the acoustic ballad with an intimate and dreamy touch of "Play Crack The Sky" and "Jaws Theme Swimming" with its chorus reaching towards the future, tomorrow, caressing you with its calm atmosphere, here once again a hypnotic bass enters and exits the musical enclosure and almost seven minutes of "Good To Know That If I Never Need Attention All I Have To Do Is Die", also with its mood changes.

Among the 11 episodes, instead, "I Will Play My Game Beneath The Spin Light" stands out a bit with its strangely cheerful and joyful mood, with almost Latin influences, in antithesis with the general storyline of the album, resulting not bad, but slightly out of place. While "The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot" with its vintage touch from Albion is the one that strikes me least of all. Finally, a bit too verbose proves to be "I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don’t".

Brand New's sound is dreamy mood, often and willingly veiled by a strong underlying sense of melancholy, capable of surfacing repressed memories in the listener's mind, distant situations, but also of visualizing natural landscapes and large open spaces, and generating a sense of nostalgia in the listener. An album that makes you travel with your mind and spirit, the artwork, in this sense, is strongly illustrative of what is described.

The main architect of all this is primarily Jesse Lacey's voice, here visceral and mature, often and willingly whispered, refining every detail, resulting in tone and intensity distant from those of great past hits like "Seventy times 7" and "Jude law and a semester abroad".

For those unfamiliar with the band's name, the advice is to catch up on this "Deja Entendu" crucial and intermediate step, to grasp the evolution of Jesse Lacey, Vincent Accardi, and their companions from the origins to today.