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Last Active 05-24-13 12:11 am
Joined 07-07-08

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 Lists
05.15.13 2013 Through The Peephole03.29.13 Native Ranked
03.06.13 Wednesdays With Sowing01.16.13 Sowing The White
01.02.13 Madden Playoff Simulation10.27.12 20 Albums That Need More Attention
09.29.12 Brand New's Best 15 ♦09.07.12 Sowing's Favorite Non-staff Users
09.07.12 Q3 Infinite Playlist ♦08.11.12 Yellowcard Ranked
07.26.12 Sowing Turns 407.24.12 Gaslight Virgin
07.16.12 I'm So Old07.03.12 2012.5...a Look At The Year's Best, Hal ♦
06.15.12 Q2 Infinite Playlist ♦05.15.12 User Spotlight: Irving
05.15.12 Indie: Required Listening ♦03.27.12 Congratulations Silentpotato
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Brand New's Best 15

Someone did this recently, but as the site's official Brand New authority, I felt the need to weigh in with my infallible opinions.
15Brand New
Deja Entendu

"Me vs. Maradona vs. Elvis" - One of the best songs about desperation and sexual frustration, even if some of the lyrics sound borderline rape-y. The chorus at the end "I will lay awake, lie for fun and fake the way I hold you, watch you fall for every empty word I say" is packed with emotion while simultaneously lacking it (see quote).
14Brand New
Fight Off Your Demons (The Demos)

"Untitled 4" - This demo by Brand New is infectious and upbeat (Brand New and upbeat in the same sentence??), successfully incorporates an electronic backbeat, and even possesses a Van Gogh reference. It's everything you love about this band, but amped out to actually sound halfway optimistic.
13Brand New
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me

"Millstone" - One of the best musical depictions of loss of innocence. "I used to sleep without a single stir, 'cause I was about my Father's work"..."I used to pray like God was listening, I used to make my parents proud"..."I used to know the name of every person I kissed, now I made this bed and I can't fall asleep in it." Oh, and it is catchy as all hell.
12Brand New
Your Favorite Weapon

"Soco Amaretto Lime" - Anyone who is between the ages of 18 and 25 doesn't need me to explain why this is an anthem of our youth. Jesse sounds like a drunk, dejected mess most of the time, but that's why it's so great. "I'm gonna stay 18 forever."
11Brand New
Daisy

"Vices" - The opera-like introduction is just enough to make this song feel experimental rather than a directionally challenged attempt at grunge. It's actually a little bit of both, but the screeching guitars combined with Jesse screaming for his mortal soul make this a winner in my book.
10Brand New
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me

"Degausser" - This reminds me of something that would have been on Pink Floyd's The Wall - and not just because of the eerie children-sung verses, but also because of it's raw nature and uncurbed anger towards God. When Lacey shouts "the storm is coming" a chill shoots up my spine every time.
9Brand New
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me

"You Won't Know" - This song can take any one of my moods and turn it into utter depression. It sucks, but it also takes a lot of fucking emotion to do that.
8Brand New
Daisy

"Sink" - The thumping beat and balls-out screamed chorus has to make this one of the biggest adrenaline rushes since Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust" (two completely different styles I know, but the comparison stands).
7Brand New
Your Favorite Weapon

"Seventy Times 7" - From Brand New's debut, so it is still deeply rooted in their pop-punk foundation. The theme of betrayal, combined with Jesse's clever lyrics and unparalleled cynicism, makes it as addicting as anything in Brand New's discography.
6Brand New
Deja Entendu

"Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't" - Possesses the rare ability to be as fun as it stylistically unique and emotionally affecting. The song ranges from the band bragging about themselves "we are entirely smooth, we admit to the truth we are the best at what we do" to wishing incurable disease upon a girl "I hope you come down with something they can't diagnose, don't have the cure for" to suddenly being deep "every line is about who I don't want to write about anymore." The groovy bass line drives the song, and the scream of "this is the reason you're alone, this is the rise and the fall" emphatically puts the punctuation on an already superb track.
5Brand New
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me

"Sowing Season" - The perfect intro, this song varies its tempo frequently, possesses existential lyrics "before you put my body in the cold ground, take some time and warm it with your hands", a defiant nature "I am not your friend, I'm not your lover, I'm not your family" and of course, the heart-jumping-into-your-throat screams of "YEAH!" that precede the chorus and are sprinkled throughout the song to jolt you to your full alertness. By the time this song has ended, you know that The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me will be a phenomenal album.
4Brand New
Deja Entendu

"Play Crack The Sky" - I still maintain that this is one of the greatest acoustic songs of all time. The ocean metaphor for love is amazing, "what they call love is a risk, to always get hit out of nowhere, but some wave and end up on your own." In fact, every single line is brilliant and stands out due to the simplicity of the song's acoustic guitar canvas, whose rhythm rocks to-and-fro simulating the lapping of waves against a rocky shore. Oh, and "need you like water in my lungs." Fucking phenomenal.
3Brand New
Daisy

"Noro" - One word comes to mind: mystique. This song is shrouded in it, from the creepily lamented intro "little light, lead us through the night / and if we die, burn down the forest" to the forthrightly proclaimed chorus of "I'm on my way to hell" and the adjoining Marilyn Manson-like vocals "well I tried, God knows that I tried", this is one of Brand New's darkest moments. The song feels cursed, almost - as if there are underlying demons waiting to break loose. Perhaps that's why Brand New never performed the song live while initially touring for Daisy.
2Brand New
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me

"Limousine (MS Rebridge)" - Probably the band's most well-constructed song, this nearly eight minute track is also the emotional climax of their career. The slow climb to the guitar solo is nothing short of chill-inducing, and as it slowly weaves through various paces and stylistic approaches, you just know that something mind-blowing is on the horizon. Brand New succeeds in every way here, mastering every verse on their way to constructing the saddest and most cathartic peak of any song they've ever written. If you don't exhale when this song is finished, you need to check your pulse.
1Brand New
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me

"Jesus" - Hauntingly beautiful. The gently picked acoustic guitar creates an echoing atmosphere that spans the entire length of the song while Jesse Lacey pours his heart out to God, despite knowing that the conversation only goes one way. Full of religious crises, existential thoughts, biblical references, and warnings ("I know you come in the night like a thief"..."I swear I'll nail you back up"), this is a lyrical masterpiece among many other things. The dramatic finish in which Lacey concedes "I know you're coming for the people like me" and shouts, "we all got wood and nails, we turn out hate in factories" serves as one of the biggest highlights of Brand New's career, and it all slowly fades into the distance with a return to the exact same acoustic guitar line that we heard in the beginning of the song. There are very few songs that I can say legitimately had an impact on my life, but this is one of them.
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