Review Summary: The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me is an astounding achievement and will continue to be viewed as a cultural landmark in the years to come by possibly everyone on SputnikMusic.com
There are certain albums that, when listened to in a darkened room with a good quality sound system, create an indelible, orgasmic effect, as if the melodies and lyrics have been seared into your brain, rendering it charred and utterly non-functional. Brand New’s
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me is one of those albums. In the following concept review I will attempt to describe the feelings that this album evokes in me –
solely through the overuse of italic font and superfluous song quotes. This will lend the review an air of emotional gravitas.
I Used To Be Such A Burning Example (An Inauspicious Yet Blissful Beginning for Paul Schaeffer)
I had a happy childhood. Mom worked as a nurse in the city during the week and so I only saw her at weekends, but that left me and my dad. I loved my dad. Back in those days “my” music collection was in fact his – obscure 60’s acid rock and assorted jazz and bebop records. I was just a kid – didn’t care for the lyrics, didn’t know what they meant. All I knew was that it sounded good. That was enough. The music was enough. In much the same way,
TDAGARIM (tee-dag-a-rim) would be an intoxicating, 3.5/5 worthy listen even without Jesse Lacey’s lyrics. The musical growth since Deja Entendu is truly astounding – at this point the band actually began to write good songs. The hushed opening of Sowing Season sees charismatic frontman Jesse Lacey muttering darkly to himself before the unexpected explosion of the chorus releases all the tension that had been simmering in the preceding sixty seconds. It is a genuinely spine tingling moment.
Life Is A Test And I Get Bad Marked (People Say I’m Bugged Out – It’s My Business, Stay The *** Out)
My teenage years were difficult. So many arguments with my mom, so many slammed doors. So much acne. My face looked like a lacerated pizza with pus filled boils instead of pepperoni. I fell in with the wrong crowd and started listening to Limp Bizkit records. Meanwhile, my dad’s bebop collection gathered dust in the attic –
dead people don’t listen to bebop, and neither do Limp Bizkit fans.
TDAGARIM has several standout tracks.
Degausser is perhaps my pick for best song of the album. Pairing an irresistible melody with one of Lacey’s best vocal performances, the song grows from an inauspicious beginning to a towering wall of sound in the chorus. My discovery of this album came just in time. When Lacey wails that he 'can’t get anything right', I knew how he felt. Meanwhile,
Welcome To Bangkok is an instrumental, thus allowing the listener to give the song their own personal meaning. While listening to this song I like to imagine myself being greeted by thousands of people at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, except they are saying the song title in Thai.
He’s Drinking Up, He’s All-American and He’ll Drive (Finally Got Laid)
I was 15. A sexually frustrated virgin. Awkward around the opposite sex and proficient only in the dark art of masturbation. One time I even fapped to that TV show
Diagnosis: Murder. Then I met Anna. Shy, like me, but with a cute smile that caught my eye one day at the local Starbucks . We started talking and eventually went out on a date. She didn’t have any friends or prior sexual experience so it didn’t really matter if I screwed up or not. Then there was the bad facial scarring from a car accident dating back to her childhood, but again, it didn’t matter to me. The experience of having sex with her while listening closely to
Limousine’s lyrics and fantasising that I was the driver who caused her injuries gave me a thrill that mere words cannot describe effectively, so I will now end this paragraph,
on a run on sentence.
Jesus Christ Has A Pretty Face (Hey, Does Anybody Else Remember Krang from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? He Was A Brain In A Robot Suit. That Guy Was Awesome)
Life goes on, for all of us. I’m in college now and dating a really nice girl called Samantha. I'm happier than i used to be. My mom calls twice a week and we often talk about how much Brand New’s songwriting progressed, from the cookie-cutter music of
Your Favorite Weapon through to the life affirming
TDAGARIM. Sometimes we even discuss album closer
Handcuff’s use of cello to create a somber atmosphere. It is indeed a perfect end to a great album. An album that saved my life. Brand New, if you’re reading this, and I know you are, I’d like to thank you.
This review is for you guys.
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