There are two different kinds of bands: those that find one sound and stick to it, and those that evolve, grow, and mature musically. Brand New is one of the latter. Each of their albums has shown this, and Daisy is not an exception.
The band started in 2001 with Your Favorite Weapon, a pop-punk album mostly filled with lyrics of angst fueled by a rivalry between former Taking Back Sunday member John Nolan and Brand New front man Jesse Lacey. The sound that came from the album was nothing if not typical of the time that it came out.
From there, they musically evolved into a band with depth.
Jesse Lacey began shedding the pop punk sound with Deja Entendu and completely lost it by the time The Devil and God are Raging Inside of Me came out in 2006. Lacey told Spin Magazine, “We literally have a documentation of our lives on record. You listen to our music consecutively, in chronological order, you can literally hear us growing into men.”
Their newest album, Daisy, does not break this tradition. Continuing the theme of Lacey’s internal battle with religion and his undoubted fear of the afterlife, he opens and closes the album by sampling an old hymn, “On Life’s Highway”. After the melodic and relaxing sample of the hymn, which was recorded by a Baptist church in Texas, they break into a sound that is much heavier, more distorted and raw than any of their previous works. If their intent was to blow out my speakers, I think they succeeded.
The drums and bass have a thicker and richer sound throughout the album. Their previous albums have been generally more focused on the lyrics. Here we see them bringing the band more into the forefront with drumbeats that seem to control the listener’s heartbeat and smooth bass lines to mellow it out. The guitar’s heavy use of distortion and feedback is freakishly similar to Nirvana’s In Utero. The song “Bed” made my ears and eyes have an argument. It sounded so familiar yet new. Had Kurt Cobain not ended his life early, he probably would have written that song in 1998.
This album is the first one written more collaboratively, with songs being written by lead guitarist Vincent Accardi and contribution from the other members. Brand New used to be primarily Jesse Lacey writing lyrics and music. I saw them live a few years back, right before the release of The Devil and God, and the band was only on stage for a total of maybe six songs. It was the Jesse Lacey show. For about a year, Lacey toured with good friend Kevin Devine, playing solo shows with Brand New songs.
This new album is proof Lacey has become more humble and less arrogant musically. By allowing the rest of the band to contribute, he has successfully produced the best work of his career. Daisy hits store shelves and iTunes Sept. 22.