Brand New
Deja Entendu

THE REVIEW

The 2003 is quite an important year for Brand New. The band from Long Island follows up their debut "Your Favourite Weapon" with the album that will officially catapult them among the brightest stars in the American indie and emocore scene: I'm talking about "Deja Entendu."

After the intro Tatou, with its very reflective, understated, and atmospheric tones, the album kicks off with a bang with Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades. The track is masterfully driven by the bass, which outlines a simple yet effective and recognizable rhythmic line. This melodic line then creates a certain sense of tension, which culminates in the quick chorus where the guitars explode and intertwine perfectly with Jesse Lacey's tense and vibrant vocals. Moving through to the third track, I Will Play My Game Beneath The Spin Light (which indeed feels a bit like deja entendu, already heard, though it's not to be dismissed at all, quite the contrary!), we arrive at another interesting piece, Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't. The song, calm and tranquil for at least a couple of minutes, with only a guitar arpeggio as the main backbone, then evolves into a rhythmic piece that grabs you and takes you along, only to stick in your head. The bass break towards the four-minute mark, preceding the return of the chorus, is very well-suited.

Next, The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows excellently highlights the good vocal characteristics and expressiveness of the singer. In itself, the track alternates between ballad moments and more rhythmic ones, with the now established "calm - sound explosion" structure that provides a solid base for development. The gentle The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot is an ideal bridge to Jaws Theme Swimming. The track, in my opinion, is not very incisive, although well-structured; it is another ideal blend between driving bass/drums and distorted guitars in the melodic explosions of the chorus.

Then we arrive at three other excellent tracks, the first of which is Me Vs Maradona Vs Elvis. The track is misleading as it may seem like a semi-acoustic ballad, characterized by only a guitar arpeggio and the often whispered voice of the singer (a variation Lacey often resorts to); around the middle of the third minute, however, it grows in intensity and emotion, with the extensive deployment of distorted guitars at this point. The subsequent Guernica is no less. Definitely the second most energetic track of the entire album, it follows the canonical backbone of the bass-drum axis and evolves through continuous energetic and fast sound explosions, culminating with the singer's scream vocals (perhaps the only time on the album he goes that far). The penultimate Good to Know That if I Ever Need Attention All I Have to Do Is Die is again a piece emotionally rich in ideas. The structure of the song is always the same, but don't be fooled: although the track turns out to be the longest of all, it does not bore the listener, instead cradling them through sweet melodies and then shaking them (truth be told, most of the time) with effective electric bursts. With the concluding (and this time truly acoustic) Play Crack In The Sky, the album comes to its end. Perhaps this is the track that impressed me the least (at least from a purely sonic point of view), but perhaps it was necessary to end the album with something softer and sweeter.

In conclusion, I feel more than comfortable stating that this work by Brand New will surely be appreciated not only by emocore music lovers but also by all those who appreciate original and fresh albums. "Deja Entendu" is really very well made and curated in all aspects, from the production to the quality of the lyrics (in some cases very significant, melancholic, and at times dark, just like the band's music itself), and I am sure that it will captivate you with each listen more and more.