Brand New is an alternative rock band from Long Island, New York, and consists of lead vocalist, guitarist, and lyricist Jesse Lacey, guitarist Vincent Accardi, bass guitarist Garrett Tierney and drummer Brian Lane. Most recently, Derrick Sherman joined the band on tour in 2006. The band was formed in 2000 in Merrick, New York and partly consists of former members of the band The Rookie Lot and Taking Back Sunday. Brand New has toured with many bands including Thrice, Beneath the Sun, Crime in Stereo, and mewithoutYou. The band has released four studio albums so far, Your Favorite Weapon (2001), Deja Entendu (2003), The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me (2006) and Daisy (2009).

They initially had a pop-punk sound, with stirring lyrics, and an unusually intricate sound for a band of this genre. Their second album showed a matured lyrical direction and a departure from their earlier pop-punk sound. Their current sound has more in common with indie-emo bands such as Sunny Day Real Estate and Straylight Run. They became part of the Long Island, New York indie/hardcore scene with the likes of The Movielife, From Autumn to Ashes, Glassjaw, and Taking Back Sunday, whom they are supposedly close friends with, but have had their share of misunderstandings. They have released four full-length albums and two EPs.

I’ll declare my hand right now: This is one of the best alternative rock records I’ve heard in this brilliant release year. One reason for thinking this way is that there are no stereotypical rock sounds that all too often appear at the beginning of songs; sounds that bore me to tears; and immediately plant the thought in my head that I’ve heard it all before, and this band/song/album is not going to be good. It could be a lazy drum roll or guitar chord that one has heard a hundred times before, and will probably hear a hundred times again. That general lack of adventure and imagination tires me, disappoints me. And perhaps it’s no accident that my best reviews this year have gone to acts that, to one degree or another, have broken out of that cliche sound.

Brand New is one such band.

Opener ‘Vice’ is one such example. It starts with a homely female solo accompanied by a piano, as though singing after supper… Then the fun really starts as an alternative rock tune emerges with screaming guitar chords and a rampant metal-style vocal. Next track ‘Bed’ is a sultry,moody, dark affair played out at crawling pace with a minimalist instrumental arrangement and intimate vocal. There’s a strong melody and lovely winding guitar passages. ‘At The Bottom’ is the first single from the album and understandably so. It opens quietly and moodily before Lacey’s vocal gives forth accompanied by beautifully judged instrumentals, in such a way that you know the choruses will ultimately explode into existence. There’s a wonderful melody along with a number of distinctive touches. ‘Gasoline’ is a rhythmic humdinger that builds to some great instrumental crescendos, with a screaming vocal to match. ‘You Stole’ opens with the most eerie, scary sounds that suddenly stop to give way to plucked guitar and reflective vocal. The song builds and builds until superb guitar riffs light up the night sky like a fire work display that shines brightly and briefly to give way to relative silence. This is an enormous track with an ambience that is no less than compelling.

‘Be Gone’ injects a blues vibe where the the guitar ploughs on under a craked/warped vocal. It lasts less than a minute and is followed by a real screamer in ‘Sink.’ The song travels at deathly pace in the verses driven by a fabulous melody, while the incendiery choruses gather paceand drama. ‘Bought A Bride’ follows a similar formula and cannot, does not fail… ‘Daisy’ in introduced by a clear, mature spoken commentary before Lacey provides a moving vocal atop a driving rhythm and the most extraordinary instrumental arrangement. It’s a beauty! ‘In A Jar’ takes an indie rock route with the most gorgeous multi-layered vocals before rampant choruses flash by, and the contemplative vibe returns. It’s another standout. Final track ‘Noro’ is another slow, reflective piece that includes an expressive close-mic vocal and another adventurous and compelling instrumental arrangement. That homely, after supper voice and piano returns briefly to provide fitting end to a wonderful album.

The diversity of sound and pace of this glorious song selection is mind-blowing. If there was such a thing as a musical Tsunami, this is it.

4.5/5