When they formed, the New Yorkers intended to make music free of any stylistic restrictions that they felt they would have to conform to. The band were lucky enough to sign with Triple Crown Records after just two shows who would go on to release the band’s debut album ‘Your Favorite Weapon’. The album was a fairly straight Pop-Punk record and as the band’s sound began to evolve throughout their career many of these songs have been left out of the transition.
During the relentless touring schedule for their first album, the band were able to write follow up ‘Deja Entendu’, French for ‘already heard’, which became the album that would really define Brand New’s sound. It was also the start of their broader success as the album eventually went gold and garnered radio play in multiple countries.
After increasingly high profile touring slots, the band signed to Interscope records and began work on their third album however complications with leaking demos made this a rough patch in the band’s career. In 2006 though, their third album ‘The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me’ was eventually released to critical and commercial acclaim, selling nearly 60,000 copies in its first week.
The popularity continued for the release of fourth album ‘Daisy’ and although the follow up is yet to come, there is no doubt that Brand New will be back bigger than ever soon enough.
Brand New is a must-see for any fan. What I love about them is that their style seemed to change along with my music tastes for the whole 10 years I was a die-hard fan.
I saw a majority of their shows in the Devil and God-era, and the performances stayed true to the sound on the album, but much more passionate and personal live. In between albums, there was never a more exhilarating moment as when they debuted a new song, or one they were working on that would remain golden in its elusive demo glory. Even better if you had previously (obsessively) scouted those demos beforehand and saw them live, knowing the words.
The most important show I saw was the first time at House of Blues during the Deja Entendu-era. That album is just perfection and it may or may not be rare to hear the majority of those songs live today.
I recently read that they are working on new music, but backtracking to the style of Deja Entendu and Devil and God- so if you love the sound of those albums, do not miss their show- and be blessed to hear any new songs or demos live.