Review Summary: Every song is about who I don't wanna write about anymore...
Here we are again. Brand New. Nice to see you again... sort of.
The funny thing about Brand New is that they are tied with Radiohead for being my favorite band, and when I say I 'love them' it feels almost dishonest. Can you really love something that can so thoroughly ruin you? Be it by way of masochism or catharsis, Brand New is a musical drug, an addictive, relentlessly depressive, yet oddly euphoric kind of drug.
When going through all their albums over the past year, Deja Entendu occupied a weird space for me. I loved it, quite a bit even, but I didn't think it could compete with the likes of Science Fiction, Daisy, or the ubiquitous The Devil and God are Raging inside me. It was a logical evolution from their previous album, Your Favorite Weapon, which, while good, was a bit indistinguishable from other albums like it with it's Punk sensibility and more conventional sound. It was an album that showed signs that these guys could definitely build off of this, but in what way, there was no way to be entirely sure.
Thankfully, their sophomoric effort chose to be the base for what would become their definitive style and sound.
I wasn't always huge on Deja. I bumped up its score slightly because, more than any Brand New album, I think this is a grower. While you can trace roots back to Your Favorite Weapon easily, everything here is so much more robust. They've carried over Jesse's vocals, which haven't seen too much evolution over the years, but I feel like Deja gives the opportunity for him to shine much brighter. Songs like 'The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot' showcase a more subdued and quiet side to the vocals, where as 'The Quiet Things that No One Ever Knows' and 'Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades' show him flexing his range, alternating energy on a verse by verse basis, and even getting a bit more on the scream-y side, and for this album, it definitely works. (Another carry over is the rather obtuse song titles, which I haven't quite been able to pin down 100%, though it definitely adds personality)
The real pathos in this album is in the fact that it's a meditation on self-worth. Your Favorite Weapon was more an odyssey of adolescent angst and confusion, whereas Deja kind of turns a lens on that. We frequently hear mentions of main characters only referred to as 'he' and 'she' throughout the album like on 'Jaws Theme Swimming' or 'Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades'. And other times we hear songs from the point of view of 'he' like on 'The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot' There's also definitely a theme of relationship and love running through here, but not exactly the good kind, 'Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades' tells the story of 'he' or 'him' being in a relationship of sorts with 'she' but we get the impression that it's not exactly a good one, or even a romantic one. Someone, or both of them, are being used by the other purely for selfish reasons, referring to one as the 'Lamb' and the other as the 'Slaughter'. And that's another thing, in the world Deja paints, everything is fleeting. Everything good happens in the past or happens so quickly it may as well have not happened at all. The vast majority is dealing with the aftermath. On songs like 'The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot', 'Me vs. Maradonna vs. Elvis', and 'Play Crack the Sky' we definitely hear that this main character is trying to cope with it all, be it through denial, substance abuse, or simply just delusions meant to tide him over. In 'The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot', the song I'd consider is the centerpiece of the album, is a song about denial and trying not to hate yourself even when you're keenly aware of your own faults.
The production here is definitely a step-up. In fact it's even better here than it is on Devil and God, which is a stylistic choice, but I think it works for both respective albums. It's not quite Daisy or Science Fiction caliber, but it's a happy medium. On the closing track, 'Play Crack the Sky' it feels it bit more acoustic and minimalist, a fitting end to an album that is full of soaring highs and lows that always feel kind of grand, purely riding on emotion. The actual lyricism at play here is also the real beginning of Brand New's growth artistically. A great mix of poeticism and expressions of pure, raw, emotion. Songs like 'The Quiet Things that No One Ever Knows' and 'Good to know that if I ever need attention all I have to do is die' are still adequately moody and somber, but the instrumentations just build and build. Not to mention, this was before they really started to experiment with their sound. I'd argue Devil and God was a logical progression of what they had going, but their song structures and lyrics became more and more formless and different, being less form and more function, which I dearly love, but these first two albums, Deja in particular, contain some great hooks and solid/memorable choruses that you wouldn't find elsewhere in their discography.
As for issues, there really aren't that many. A few songs sound slightly similar sonically speaking, but all the tracks are so diverse and dynamic you barely notice it. The sound they have here is definitely more of what they would become, but as a result, it is a BIT generic, even more than Your Favorite Weapon in some areas, but every band has growing pains, and the ones here are easily tolerable. The biggest issue is honestly still very minor, but Deja contains the song I would deem to be Brand New's 'worst', or more appropriately, 'weakest', that being the opening track 'Tautou'. It isn't a bad song, it's just rather slow and kind of repetitive, and as an opener to such a rollercoaster of an album, it's kind of subdued, and leads me to skip it pretty much every time I give this album a listen. But even then, that leads me to another compliment, I think this is the easiest Brand New album to listen to casually. Normally most of their albums I would highly recommend digesting in the context of the entire album for it grow on you properly, but Deja has songs that work well on their own too, and speaking as a fan, it's nice to have a set of songs like that so casual listening is easier.
If you wanna start with Brand New, honestly I would start here. It's not exactly what I would call 'accessible', but it's definitely the foundation of what they would ultimately become, and make no mistake, just because they built from this doesn't mean it's skeletal, this album is robust in every sense of the word. A lot to digest. And it may take some time to grow on you, or perhaps it's just me, but in my opinion, you really can't go wrong. This and Science Fiction are also the Brand New albums I've listened to the most, and honestly I'm not sure why. Because that's the thing with Brand New. They are very proficient musically and lyrically, but the strength here is pure, raw emotion. Raw emotion that isn't for everyone, sure, but I think most could find something they like here. Despite the more conventional sound, the whole package is unique.
This album has helped me in a unique way, a way that only a Brand New album can. Despite me still thinking their next few projects are 'better', this is still an exceptional entry in a terrific discography. It's a decent break-up album. It's versatile. It's exactly what you'd think of when you think of Brand New, quintessential even. I have a special appreciation and love for each of them, but my love for this feels more multifaceted. It isn't for everyone, but if it's your cup of tea, then it may end up doing for you what it has for me, which, if I'm being perfectly honest, is a lot.
Favorite Tracks: The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows, Okay I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don't, The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot
Least favorite Track(s): Tautou
