Reviewed: Brand New’s The Devil and God Are raging Inside of Me

I admit it. Of all the bands I’ve ever been obsessed with the obsession with Brand New is one that if they were not so good I would call ridiculous. Luckily Brand New is that good. Back in 2001 Brand new was ready to be forgotten in the early 00′s mesh of poppy punk and emo bands. Then came their second album in 2003, Deja Entendu. Amazing melodicity, plus great lyrics and guitar riffs made this album an underground ‘emo’ (for lack of a better term) smash. The follow up was The Devil and God Are Raging Inside of Me (which is now over 3 years old, but I am reviewing it anyway). The album brought the band to a new height. Great lyrics, vocals, melodicity, and cleverly placed guitar riffs that sound amazing make this album not only Brand New’s best album, but the best ‘emo’ album I have ever heard. It is a friggan masterpiece. The album starts with the song “Sowing Season (yeah)”, which is 4 minutes and thirty-one seconds of majestic guitar riffs. The song which is one of the best on the album leaves you wanting more, and more is what you will get. “Millstone” Comes out as an anthem of low confidence, and to say this in an extremely clear way, feeling like sh*t. It may be a punk cliche to express questions, anger, or doubts about religion, but Brand New is possibly in a league of their own when it comes to this. The beautiful  ”Jesus Christ” does this well enough with lyrics like “Well, Jesus Christ, I’m not scared to die, I’m a little bit scared of what comes after Do I get the gold chariot? Do I float through the ceiling?” or “Well, Jesus Christ, I’m alone again So what did you do those three days you were dead? ’cause this problem’s gonna last more than the weekend.” On this track Brand New also proves they can take a risk by throwing a false ending in. The real religious doubts and anger though come in one of the album’s best songs, “Archers”. “a beating with a book everyone the book tells you to love”, and “Who do you carry the torch for, my young man? Do you believe in anything? Do you carry it around just to burn things down?”, are some of the best lines of the album, not just the song. Though brand New can be much more subtle with their references to doubts in religion, like with this line from “Millstone”, “I used to pray like God was listening.” Melodically this album is the best album I’ve heard, ever. Some of the best songs on it in melodically are “Limousine”, “Sowing Season (Yeah)”, and “Degausser”  in which Brand New masters their quiet to loud transitions. All three of those songs are accompanied by great vocals and kickass guitar riffs. Particularly at the end of “Limousine” (which is an amazing 7 minute epic, melodically) where had the guitar been distorted differently I could be fooled that I’m at a Radiohead concert in 1995. Lyrically this album is top notch and only occasionally overly bitter (“Handcuffs”) which manages to set it aside from most albums of its genre. Some of my favorite lyrics come from “Not the Sun”, lines like “Don’t feed me scraps from your bed. I won’t be the stray coming back just to be fed” and from “Degausser”, “Life is a test and I get bad marks. Now some saint got the job of writing down my sins. The storm is coming, the storm is coming in” are some of the best lines on the album. “Jesus Christ”, “You Won’t Know”, “Archers”, and “Sowing Season (Yeah)” all also come out especially strong in the lyrics department. The album also features two insturmental fills. One (“Welcome to Bangkok”) bridges the gap between the first and second half of the album. In conclusion, as I said earlier, this is brand New’s best album, and the best ‘emo’ (once again for lack of a better term) album I’ve ever heard. I hope you enjoy it.

High Point: “Degausser”, or “Sowing Season (Yeah)”

Low Point: “Handcuffs”

Melodicity Definition: Greatness in melody.

B-Side Friday

I decided that I would start something called B-side Friday. So every friday I’ll post up to 7 lesser known songs. The songs could be by known artists but they will be lesser  known songs by that artist. I don’t think I have to explain the term b-side. So check out the songs.

Hideaway – Fuel

When the Sun Rose Again – Alice in Chains

Play Crack the Sky – Brand New

Black – Pearl Jam

Set Phasers to Stun – Taking Back Sunday

The Resistance – Anberlin

Lithium – Nirvana

Weatherbox: The Underground Sensation

San Diego California isn’t exactly the first place you think of when trying to name cities that pump out bands faster then I go through lemonade bottles. I wonder if the locals  knew they had something special when they first heard the fourman group of Weatherbox. When I first heard them I knew within the first minute of “Trippin’, the Life Fantastic” that this wasn’t your typical indie punk rock group.

The Members of Weatherbox

The name Weatherbox comes from a song by the band Mission to Burma. In an interview that vocalist and guitarist Brian Warren gave with AbsolutePunk he said this about the name: “It began as a random name but slowly gained meaning. When people ask me what it means now, I say the box is your consciousness and the weather is the external stimuli which effects you constantly. So Weatherbox is everything but since we got it from the Mission of Burma song it’s also nothing. So it is the union of everything with nothing,”.

It all started with an EP titled “The Clearing”. The EP is full of songs about life and death. With their gutting guitar riffs, and punk lyrics Weatherbox began to get some attention and also raise some eyebrows.

Then came American Art, the debut LP that made Weatherbox an underground household name, if that expression makes any sense. It was released on May 8th 2007. On this album, listeners were left being able to recognize Weatherbox’s distinctive sound. Slightly bizzare bridges and drum beats make this album worth many more listens. This album is what indie is all about, experimentation, and music for music’s sake.

Weatherbox’s follow up to American Art came in September of 2009. It was called “The Cosmic Drama”. It left old fans satisfied while managing to not sound just like American Art.

Will Weatherbox ever break into the mainstream or will they stay an underground smash like so many bands before? It is possible that they will become mainstream. As long as there are people like me who want to get the word out about unknown bands, and people like you who care, then Weatherbox breaking into the mainstream is certainly possible. In conclusion, with deep lyrics, gutting guitar riffs, and a very distinctive sound, Weatherbox truly is an underground sensation.

A few mp3s are streaming at weatherbox’s myspace page where you can check out the band’s latest news, and such. http://www.myspace.com/weatherbox