Album Review: Brand New continues to live up to its name

 At the beginning of the decade Brand New vaguely showed signs of representing their name accurately.

With their cookie-cutter pop punk debut, “Your Favorite Weapon,” the boys from Long Island monopolized the main stages of Warped Tour and instantly became fixtures in a scene that every band was striving to succeed in. 

After the band ditched their prototypical mold for a softer but more mature feel, many were stunned. While 2003’s “Deja Entendu” still featured various songs suitable for radio airwaves (Sic Transit Gloria…Glory Fades, The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows), it was with atypical songs like “Jaws Theme Swimming,” “Guernica,” and “Play Crack the Sky” that the band showcased their strong ability to write clever songs instead ones that were weighed down by clichés.

In 2006, Brand New once again shocked their listeners with “The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me,” taking a giant leap forward with a stylistically unique and unpredictable approach.

Now with the introduction of their latest release, “Daisy,”  it’s hard to imagine them being able to honor their name and progress any further. 

Opening with the most surprising and exhilarating Brand New song to date, “Vices” grabs your attention and gives a quick indication of the exhausting listen that lies ahead.

There are various influences to be found throughout “Daisy,” ranging from the dizzy guitar drone of My Bloody Valentine on “You Stole,” to the reminisce of Nirvana circa “In Utero” on tracks like “Bed”  and “At the Bottom.” However, it’s when singer and guitarist Jessie Lacey vocally creates an assault between verse and choruses on songs like “Sink” and “In a Jar” that Brand New sounds like no one else.   

The highest point of the album are in its third act; starting with the lethal combination of Garrett Tierney’s thundering bass lines and Vin Accardi’s slashing riffs on “Bought a Bride” to Brian Lane’s drumming that sounds as if it was the rhythm of doom on the closing track “Norco.” It’s with this comfort that the band opens up and comes alive.

While “Daisy” might not have the overpowering impact on the iPod generation like their previous albums have, it certainly does pack enough fury in its punch to be noted as one of the better modern rock albums of 2009.