Brand New
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Brand New is a rock band from Merrick, New York. Formed in the early 2000s, they quickly became part of the Long Island, New York rock scene. They have released two full-length albums and two EPs. Lead Singer Jesse Lacey announced during the 2006 tour that the new album was completed on June 19, 2006.
The band came into the mainstream with their song "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows," which fell into heavy rotation on many radio stations during the summer of 2003, while they were on the Vans Warped Tour[#endnote_warpedtour]. The band's videos have also previously been on Fuse TV, MTV, and MTV2. The band is a notable part of the Long Island, New York music scene along with The Movielife, From Autumn to Ashes, Glassjaw and Taking Back Sunday.
Band history
Formation
In the late 1990s Jesse Lacey, Garrett Tierney and Brian Lane were all members of The Rookie Lot, a Post-Hardcore band largely influenced by groups like Lifetime, along with guitarists Brandon Reilly, who would go on to play guitar for The Movielife and front Nightmare of You, and Alex Dunne, who now plays guitar for Crime In StereoAfter The Rookie Lot disbanded, Lacey and Lane started playing together again with Tierney joining them soon after. Then Vincent "Vin" Accardi joined, completing the band's current line-up. After recording, producing, and releasing their first four-track demo, the band began rigorously touring around the Long Island scene. The band name is rumored to have come from the song "Brand New" by the Beastie Boys.
Your Favorite Weapon
Since being signed a single album deal on Triple Crown Records, the band set to work on their debut, Your Favorite Weapon, a mix of rerecorded songs from their demos alongside many new ones. As Lacey, the band's songwriter, was only a teenager when he wrote the album, lyrically the album was primarily teen angst, yet still received acclaim for being more complex than many of their peers.
The album, produced by Mike Sapone[#endnote_mikesapone], consisted of many catchy pop-punk hooks while still offering something fresh and new compared to many other albums available at the time. Despite the band's limited skills, the album was a moderate success, allowing the band to tour nationally and internationally, something which the band would later draw inspiration from in the followup. In this time, the band initially toured with local friends Taking Back Sunday but were soon supporting bigger bands including Good Charlotte, New Found Glory, Glassjaw, Incubus, Dashboard Confessional and Finch.
The song title "Seventy Times 7" in Your Favorite Weapon comes from a verse in the Holy Bible - Matthew 18:22 - where Jesus tells Peter he must forgive him "seventy times seven", and the song is about a disagreement between Jesse Lacey, and childhood friend John Nolan formerly from Taking Back Sunday. Taking Back Sunday later released "There Is No I in Team" as a response after Your Favorite Weapon was released, although many mistakenly believe that Brand New's song was a response to Taking Back Sunday's.
The first and only single released from Your Favorite Weapon was "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad," which received significant airplay on both MTV2 and Fuse.
Since the release of the album, the band have expressed dismay at the fact that the album was not necessarily their best work, and at the time they released a remade version of "Jude Law..." on their website as a free MP3, which sounded notably cleaner.
Soon after the release of Your Favorite Weapon, they released two songs on a split EP with Safety In Numbers. "Moshi Moshi" from this EP was also later available as a B-side on the UK "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad" single.
Deja Entendu
While they toured their debut, the band set to work improving both their instrumental skills and their songwriting. The band's constant touring of the world, as well as drawing from many personal experiences and increased since the release of their first album gave them inspiration for their sophomore effort, Deja Entendu. Released in June, 2003 to much popular acclaim as well as favourable reviews, the album is a departure from their debut, toning down their previous pop-punk sensibilities into mostly slower, deeper, darker songs with more complex lyrics about a wide range of topics including lung cancer and sex.
The album, whose title is French for "Already Heard" - a comment on how the band believes that modern music sounds the same, is known for its long over-the-top song titles and complex lyrics. It was produced by Steven Haigler, who is best known for being sound engineer on the Pixies' Trompe le Monde[#endnote_haigler]
The band has commented how most of the songs were not demoed and were "rushed", and that eleven out of the twelve songs recorded for the album appeared on it - with only "Flying At Tree Level (Version 1.0)" being missed off of the album, but the track later appeared on the [[Beer: The Movie]] compilation soundtrack.
Three singles were released from this album on Eat Sleep Records and Sorepoint Records. The first single from Deja Entendu was "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows". Their second single from the album, "Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades," is a shortened version of the papal term Sic transit gloria mundi and is a reference to a line from the movie Rushmore. Both of these singles were top 40 hits within the UK, and their videos received relatively heavy rotation on MTV2. The band released a third single from this album, "I Will Play My Game Beneath the Spin Light," solely for radio play.
The band also began touring nationally and internationally, both as headlining and support acts - including a short stint on the Warped Tour in 2003 [#endnote_warpedtour].
During 2003, their debut album was also remastered and rereleased thanks to the band's new found popularity due to Deja Entendu. This also resulted in the album being released for the first time in Australia and Japan during early 2004.
A limited edition EP, entitled The Holiday EP, was released soon after the album in late 2003, available only to the band's Street Team members containing rereleases of several B-sides and demos from Deja Entendu, album art by artist Brian Ewing, as well as a single new song - a cover of "O Holy Night". Available for only the price of postage, this EP sold out exceptionally quickly, and has never been rereleased and as such is now extremely rare, and can sell for up to ninety US dollars[#endnote_ebay].
Between May 2004 (with the release of the UK "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows" CDS B-sides) and June 2005, no new material was released by Brand New and no new information was publicly released to fans. During that time however, the band was signed by Interscope Records, a major label.
On December 28, 2003, the New York Times music critic, Kelefa Sanneh ranked Deja Entendu as one of the best albums of 2003, ranking the album number 5 on his top ten list.
The Third Album
In June 2005, Brand New launched a new official website which they promised to update more often (which has not been the case) and announced they had been recording, and additionally confirmed rumours that Lacey has been "sick," "had surgery," and that there "were multiple things wrong with [him]" but stated that "most of [his problems] have been fixed." In early 2005, Lacey was admitted to the hospital where upon it was learned that he had appendicitis and had surgery to remove his appendix before any further trouble could occur.
As of September 17, 2005, the band is working on their highly anticipated third album in Oxford, Mississippi. The album rumored to be titled "Fight Off Your Demons" based on the band's new website URL. The phrase is being used because of all the medical problems that members of the band has been going through, i.e. Jesse's surgery. They are in the final leg of writing and recording for their new album, and have teamed up with producer Dennis Herring who has worked with such artists as Elvis Costello. His studio, Sweet Tea, is a house/recording studio filled with vintage instruments and recording equipment. Their next album is expected to be released sometime in late 2006.
On January 24, 2006 nine demos from this album were leaked onto the internet, each without titles and of unknown origin, only with a comment they were "Demos that probably won't be on Fight Off Your Demons" following weeks of speculation over the existence of these songs. Among many internet communities, the fifth track, "Untitled 05" was said to be a song called "Cleanser" simply because it matched a description Jesse gave in an interview to Krock2's Domestic Disturbance of being "7 minutes long". In early April, MenWomenandChildren stated in an interview that this song was not entitled Cleanser, and that it wouldn't make the album. Also during the recent tour, "Untitled 08" has been played and referred to as having the title "Yeah", The live version is slightly different to the Demo version, in that the whole band play and the lyrics have changed slightly. Another new song, titled "Take Apart your Head", with lyrics referenced in the new Brand New website, is being played on their tour. It is, however, NOT one of the 9 leaked demos. They have also played untitled 06 ("Mamas") and 07 ("Fork and Knife") in drasticly improved forms, though at this time only untitled 06 is confirmed for the album.
On June 10, 2006 Brand New announced on their website that they will be starting the mixing process on June 12, 2006 with record producer, engineer, and mixer Rich Costey. They indicated that they will be mixing 13-16 tracks and 12-16 of those tracks should make it onto the record. They also announced they will be trying some of the new tracks out on their current tour. They expressed gratitude in the fans response and also commented that the reason they have taken so long in the recording process is so they could perfect the record, which they said should be out sometime this year, most likely late September/early October.
During a show at the NorVa in Norfolk, Virginia on June 23, 2006, Jesse announced that the "new album was finished four days ago", making the completion date June 19, 2006. During the next show in Charlotte, NC on June 24, 2006, Jesse confirmed that Untitled Track #6 would be on the next album.
On June 29, at the House of Blues in Orlando, Florida, Jesse announced that he hoped the new album would be released in October, however he gave the impression that Brand New's fans would have to plead with the label in order to release it that soon.
On July 1st at the Ridglea Theater in Fort Worth, TX, Jesse told fans backstage that the album would release in October pending no major problems. Late October appears to be the most likely candidate. Also, the band is hoping to tour once more to promote the new album. It has since been said that Dashboard Confessional and Brand New will be going on tour together.
Tour Info
On their street team site, a show on June 20 at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ, and shows following in Florida, California, Oregon, Washington, Ontario, and New York all sold out very quickly. There is also a UK gig on the 9th of September at London's Brixton Academy, which also sold out in a day. Brand New has posted the dates for their Summer 2006 tour both on their official site and on their MySpace.Members
The band consists of[#endnote_officialbiography]:- Jesse Lacey (Lead vocals, Lyricist, Guitar and Piano)
- Vincent "Vin/Vinnie" Accardi (Guitar, Backup vocals)
- Garrett Tierney (Bass)
- Brian Lane (Drums)
Discography
Albums
- Your Favorite Weapon (2001) (Japanese and vinyl versions have additional bonus track"...my nine rides shotgun")
- Deja Entendu (2003)
EPs
- Brand New/Safety In Numbers Split EP (2002)
- The Holiday EP (2003)
Compilation tracks
- [[Beer: The Movie]] (2003) ("Flying at Tree Level (Version 1.0)" - previously unreleased Deja Entendu-era single)
Demos
- First Four-Track Demo (N/A)
- 9 Untitled Demos (2006)
Singles
- "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad" (2002)
- "Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades" (2003); #37 UK [#endnote_everyhit]
- "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows" (2003); #39 UK
Videography
- "Jude Law And A Semester Abroad" (2002)
- "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows" (2003)
- "Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades" (2003)
External links
- [Official Website]
- [Brand New Lyrics and Meanings Discussion]
- [Brand New is Rock (Fansite)]
- [brandnew|online (Forum)]
- [Brand New UK (Fansite)]
- [Brand New UK Forum]
- [Brand New Fanlisting (Forum)]
- [Brand New Article]
- [Brand New Lyrics]
- [This Empty Space (Newly Opened Forum)]
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