|
{ True Madness Magazine }
Music Reviews
Brand New, Deja Entendu
Triple Crown/Razor and Tie, 2003
By James Eddy
Brand New’s second release made a lot of people nervous. The band seemed to have “sophomore slump” written all over them. The bottom line was that Your Favorite Weapon was such a tightly packed rock album that to expect not much more from these guys before they burn out like a supernova was too fairly practical. Too many bands release one great CD, go on tour, get fed up with the routine and throw in the towel before they even finish half of the follow-up. Brand New, however, rose above their low expectations and proved they have the goods.
At first listen, it’s hard to connect Deja Entendu’s polished, maturing sound to that of the bounce off the walls guitars of those crazy kids from Long Islands’ first release. It almost seems that the group turned in its emo-rock chops for a Coldplay album at times, though there are several moments where they stay true to their roots. “The Quiet Things No One Ever Knows” presents a perfect example, able to stand side by side with the population of Your Favorite Weapon. This much more somber tone makes the band sound almost haughty at times, though that is probably part of the joke on us. What becomes clear from near the very beginning, though, is that Brand New is done with the clever puns and tongue in cheek wit that marked the first album as so lovable, trading it in for ironic observations. “Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don’t” (get used to these long titles, Brand New seems to think their the wave of the future,) breaks down a sort of third wall by talking about a relationship in the context of being a musician. “My tongue is the only muscle that works harder than my heart.” What really makes this CD endearing, connecting to the aforementioned debut, is front man Jesse Lacey’s blunt and refreshing honesty, even if it’s hidden in snide, sarcastic jabs. The album as a whole seems angrier than the predecessor, which is quite a trick when thinking about some of the tunes that fill that album. When the day is done, I think I would rather pop in the first disc than this one, but don’t mark that as me writing off Brand New; they’ve proved the speculators wrong and have avoided a Sophomore slump with flying colors.
RATING: 3.5 out of 5
|
