Review Summary: Jesus christ, what an album it is.
(Post-review note: As I received a response that I quoted the lyrics too much, so I trimmed the amount of lyrics.)
Emo Classics Series: Episode IV
The sky was filled with clouds as I readied this episode of the Emo Classics review series. It rained heavily, sporadically. Such poor weather somehow makes me a bit moody, which made me decide to write a review an Emo album that reflects such mood. Then, the first album that pops into my mind is
Brand New’s third album (and major-label debut to Interscope Records), The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me. Compared to most Emo bands like
My Chemical Romance and
Taking Back Sunday, they don’t really have strong commercial success, yet they have one upper-hand—constant critical acclaim, especially with this album serves as the nexus of their catalog(or 2017’s Science Fiction, depending on who you ask). Like its title suggests, the album is actually written and recorded when band members were plagued with death and depression, as they faced high anticipations for the follow-up of the excellent Deja Entendu, as well as encountering death of their friends. Looking at the album cover alone actually gave me a sense of mystique, what does a cover that has a girl and two men wearing masks means❓
To begin with, I kick things off with the grunge-tinged opening track “Sowing Season (Yeah)”. In the song, frontman Jesse Lacey laments how his alcoholism makes him distanced from his friends (“Was losing all my friends /was losing them to drinking and to driving”) while trying to redeem such mistakes (“I am on the mend.”), his worries about his artistic career had been converted to something less desirable (“Twisted up by knaves /To make a trap for fools”), his distancing relationship with his friends (“Your whisper's like a bridge, it's a river span”), his unfulfilled wishes of being cared by his loved ones (“Before you put my body in the cold ground /Take some time to warm it with your hand”), losing the loved ones and his position (“Do you feel condemned just being there❓”) and being a stranger to your closed ones (the ever iconic “I am not your friend” line). If the quiet nature and exquisite lyrics in the verses don’t satisfy you, then the blistering hook will, as the juxtaposing guitar solo and Lacey’s tortured screaming of the “yeah” that recalls Kurt Cobain, will keep you jumping around and satisfy you in the meantime. In short, it does a brilliant job of opening the album and drawing the melancholy sound of the rest of the album, making the track itself an enthralling entrance.
The excellent melancholy continues in the following track, the drum-heavy and poppier “Millstone”. In the song, Lacey sings about being an outstanding and promising kid in the past (“I used to be such a burning example”), yet now he changed into a ghost, as he became socially distanced (“Now they don't talk and we don't go out”) and let down his parents (“I used to sleep without a single stir /Cause I was about my father's work”), while moaning about his mistakes is going to let him pay (the chorus), seeking for salvation (“Throw me that lifeline”) and harming the relationship with others (“Anybody know his name❓ /I think I recognise him /Sure as hell paid for that mistake”). With the haunting guitars, it really relates us with the melancholy of being different from we used to in the past in such beautiful fashion, while keeps us crying about the drastic changes occurred.
Speaking of haunting, none of the other tracks can rival such power in the highlight “Jesus Christ” (or “Jesus” in some pressings). This song is chock full of religious imagery, from the death of Jesus Christ himself (“So what did you do those three days you were dead❓”), the judgement to heaven or hell (“But I’m a little bit scared of what comes after”) to the second coming of Jesus (“I know you're coming in the night like a thief”) and St. Thomas’ skepticism of the resurrection of Jesus (“And at the gates does Thomas ask to see my hands❓”), showing Lacey’s background of being raised as a Christian. Despite he later veered away from the religion, he still has fears of punishments like many Christians or Catholics do (“Because this problem is gonna last /More than the weekend”), dying alone (“And I will die all alone /And when I arrive I won’t know anyone”), arriving heaven like many desired (“Do I get the gold chariot /Do I float through the ceiling”) and betraying others as a cause of envy and anger (“But I’ve had some time, oh Lord, to hone my lying technique”). Whether you are a Christian or Catholic or not, with the lingering guitar notes and the numbering vocals of Lacey, it’s a truly universal and stormy prayer for everyone to tell their sins to Jesus christ himself, even though it is too sinister to be forgiven. With such a universal theme, which reminds that sins and profanity are inevitable for the human kind, it is not surprising that this song became the band’s biggest hit in the U.S..
The band would move to the romantic bitterness in the Nine Inch Nails-like intense and aggressive “Degausser”, which the title references to the tool that remove any unwanted magnetism in the analog recording devices. In this angsty breakup song, Lacey recalls the not able to sleep (“Goodbye to sleep, /I think this staying up is exactly what I need."), confronting her that the relationship is dysfunctional ("I’ll never get anything right”) and she lies to him many times(“Goodbye you liar”), the relationship is too intimate to an uncomfortable level (“Goodbye to love /Well it’s a ride that will push you up”). He would also says goodbye to the lover and tells her that someone will support her anyway (“And they will come and pick you up”), while he himself would he is on his own and being “degaussed”, a metaphor for being at his all time low. However, the plot twists when he later explains he could not forget her and still loves her in the bottom of his heart (“Take me, take me back to your bed /I love you so much that it hurts my head”) and hopes to be together again in a healthier fashion (“Well, you’re my favourite bird, and when you sing /I really do wish that you’d wear my ring”). If this theme falls into a wrong hand, it could end up a boring angry breakup song. Nevertheless, Lacey’s intimately clever songwriting sculptures the pain and emotions that we all encountered in a breakup and its aftermath exquisitely, and the intricate and engaging compositions and Lacey’s tortured vocals, makes this track yet another album’s highlight and a brilliant breakup song.
Brand New, however, then move to the meditations of death and sins in the haunting near-eight-minute epic “Limousine (MS Rebridge)”, a track that mourns the death of Katie Flynn, a seven-year-old girl who was decapitated in a car crash on the way home from her aunt’s wedding. The song also details the arrest of the drunk driver (Martin Heidgen) who killed her and the limousine driver and would eventually pay for his crimes (“We found your man, he's drinking up, he's All-American /And he'll drive”) in the acoustic-guitar-led beginning. Suddenly, a sudden guitar-fuzz burst and the abrupt key change that recalls
Pulp’s “This Is Hardcore” occurred, and Lacey details the sudden moment of Katie’s death (“The signal interrupted /My baby's frequency not strong enough”), as well as shifting to the perspective of the ruthless driver about feeling regret about his unforgivable crime (“Can I get myself out from underneath this guilt that will crush me /And in the choir I saw a sad messiah /He was bored and tired of my laments /Said, ‘I died for you one time but never again’”). What makes this track even more haunting and sorrowing, is that there is a background vocal that keeps saying “Never again”, and Lacey keeps saying “Well I love you so much /But do me a favour, Baby, don't reply”, as it seems he could not cope with such pain of the loss of such young child, and counting from one to seven to replace “Well” in the line, as seven either represents the age of Katie when the fatal accident occurred or the number of god or number of sins. In the end, Lacey also sings a line that shifts to the perspective of Katie herself, where she does not have to worry of losing her parents (“We'll never have to buy /Adjacent plots of earth ”) or her child (“I’ll never have to lose /My baby in the crowd”), giving the track a duality of sadness and happiness, as she does not have to experience such pain and can be happy alone in heaven. For some casual listeners, “Limousine” may be too long for them to listen, but be patient, you might find Lacey himself is capable of writing brilliant long songs that is still engaging and tearjerking, while exhibiting their trademark of anxiety and melancholy, and you might find this track as possibly the best track in the album, or even in their catalog.
Several following tracks in the album are also undeniably match up to the quality and interesting:”You Won’t Know”, a haunting tribute song to his late friend/lover Kayla DuPree, as he details about her death (“Your daughters weren't careful /I fear that I am a slippery slope”), Kayla’s mother Chauntelle for giving birth to the young girl at a young age (“And you can't blame your mother /She's trying not to see you as her worst mistake”), showing his love to her (“And I wish that I could tell you right now /I love you /But it looks like I won't be around”) and hopes to reunite with her in heaven (On the day that I show up /They'll be completely out /Of their forgiveness supplies”) in beautifully bloodletting fashion. However, the track’s atonal vocals seems to be the downside of the track, making it one of the least impressive tracks in the album; the semi-instrumental track “Welcome To Bangkok”(composed by lead guitarist Vincent Accardi), showcased the band have a knack for performing strong instrumental tracks, as the track goes from haunting to explosive, giving an experience that you are arriving to the capital city of Thailand itself; “Not the Sun” returns to the dark side of romantic relationship and blistering punk-pop of Deja Entendu, as it seems to be a song that portrays a stagnant romantic relationship (“Please don't be technology /So I can turn off your love like some cold machine” ) and showcased the struggle of balancing the relationship (“Be my serene /Tell me you know what I mean”). Despite the always clever lyrics, the jarring transition from the second chorus to the bridge and the repetitive line of “Be my babe” in the chorus somehow downgrade the brilliance of the track, making it another less impressive track in the album.
Then, here comes the cinematic “Luca”, a title referencing Luca Brasi, a spy character in The Godfather who serve the Corleones, and would eventually drowned by the another gang family, the Sollozzos, with a pair of cement boots. The reason why I called it cinematic is because of the impressive Theremin (an instrument that you can make sounds by waving hands nearby it) performance by a lady named Irina Yallowsky, who makes the instrument sounds like an orchestra in the track. Such sweeping sound complements the haunting lyrics about his moments of facing his death (“I am drearily bloodletting this bedwetting cosmonaut”), and those that he is facing it (“For I am uncaught and still swimming alone in the lake”). The song gets even creepier when Lacey shifted his perspective to the Sollozzos, where he claimed, “You could never work well with our group /Not with the faults we've found /So we've fixed you with cement galoshes”. This song can have two meanings, one is the reinterpretations of the Godfather segment, another is the story of Lacey himself sunk into the deep sea of alcoholism that makes him isolate from others, yet he hopes god can help him by rescuing him from such choppy waters. Either way, it’s no denying that “Luca” is another highlight of this album.
Following tracks are also quite brilliant as well: “Untitled” is another semi-instrumental track, in which there are tortured guitar lines and Lacey’s numerous murmuring of “I can never lose it”, sounds like he is holding onto something and never let it go as it seems to be something very important, giving the album more shades of anxiety; “Archer” (or “The Archer’s Bows Have Broken” in some press releases) is one of the more joyous tracks that (again) recalls Deja Entendu and confronts the hypocrisy of Christians, from satirising their purpose of practising Christianity (“Do you carry it around just to burn things down❓” and “You're beating with a book everyone /That book tells you to love”), being overtly strict in the Christian family(“You can only blame yourself, it's what I say”) and failing God himself and their children with their own deception (“If you try running a maze of your lies /It's too hard to save /If you've thrown out everyone”). Despite the brilliant lyrics, it doesn’t escape the fact that it was the most confounding in the album, and it fails to associate much to the title itself.
The album finally came to a close with the melancholic the string-backed acoustic track “Handcuffs”. Unlike most tracks which were mainly penned by Lacey, this track is actually fully penned by Accardi himself, and it’s also different in terms of themes, as this track tackles on sociopolitical topic of the abuse of power, especially the police force, as the song describes the overt use of the power of arrest (“I'd arrest you if I had handcuffs /I’d arrest you if I had the time”), entrance (“I'd break into towns worth of houses /And rob whole families blind”) and kill (“I'd drown all these crying babies /If I knew that their mothers wouldn't cry”). In the chorus, Accardi noted, “It's hard to be the better man /When you forget you're tryin' /It's hard to be the better man /When you're still lyin’”, which recalls “Jesus Christ” that the ugliness of human nature is inevitable. For some listeners, it may be too soft to be a closing track, yet it actually ends the album in beautiful fashion, while remaining its devastatingly melancholic nature of the album, making it another highlight.
In conclusion, this brooding album shines in its combination of emo and alt-rock goodness. It boasts dark, melancholic bitterness, grung-like dynamism, and introspective lyricism, a true landmark of the emo genre. It may sound atonal and overtly pessimistic at times, but that does not really matter, as they also flourish the colour of the distraught in the album, and Lacey’s clever yet emotional and sorrow-drenched songwriting and the dark, stormy instrumentations really paints the beautifully sorrow portrait and soak the painting in emotional darkness. With such force of such powerful and poignant album, it’s no wonder Brand New remained a cult-like following after the their hiatus in 2009. Return to the question I asked at the beginning, maybe the girl on the cover represents us afraid of facing the two men outside the door which represents the inner darkness and mistakes, and the title represents the distress the band experienced during the process. It’s a wonderfully fabled alt-rock/post-hardcore sonic art-piece with colours of melancholy and chaos and blue shades of sadness that exhibits bare spiritual honesty and allows you to forget every burden and meditate about your life and death, especially when you have a rough day and/or repetitive life cycle.
