Brand New

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For other uses, see Brand New (disambiguation).
Brand New
Jesse Lacey performing live in San Diego.
Jesse Lacey performing live in San Diego.
Background information
Origin Levittown, New York, United States
Genre(s) Indie rock
Alternative rock
Post-hardcore
Pop punk (earlier material)
Years active 2000–present
Label(s) Tiny Evil
Interscope (2004–present)
Triple Crown (2001–2004)
Iodine (2000–2001)
Website Official website
Members
Jesse Lacey
Garrett Tierney
Brian Lane
Vincent Accardi
Derick Sherman

Brand New is an American band consisting of lead vocalist, guitarist, and lyricist Jesse Lacey; guitarist Vincent Accardi; bass guitarist Garrett Tierney; and drummer Brian Lane.[1] The band was formed in 2000 in Levittown, New York[1] and consists partly of former members of the band The Rookie Lot. Brand New has toured with many bands including Thrice, Crime In Stereo, Dashboard Confessional, and mewithoutYou. The band has released three studio albums so far—Your Favorite Weapon (2001), Deja Entendu (2003), and The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me (2006). On February 12, 2007, in an interview with BBC Manchester, Lacey stated that the band plans to release another album.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Formation

Brand New is from Long Island, New York. In the late 1990s Garrett Tierney, Brian Lane, Brandon Reilly and Alex Dunne were all members of The Rookie Lot, a post-hardcore band largely influenced by groups such as Lifetime. The Rookie Lot released a 5-track demo and a split 7" with Yearly before breaking up in late 1999. After The Rookie Lot broke up, Brandon Reilly went on to be a guitarist in The Movielife and Alex Dunne played guitar in Crime In Stereo. Lacey and Lane continued to play together with Tierney joining them shortly thereafter. The three started writing new material, with the help of Brandon Reilly, for the new project. The members started looking for a second guitarist and eventually found the then 17 year-old Vincent Accardi. Accardi decided to join the band after hearing the trio play "The Shower Scene", the first song they wrote together.[citation needed] Lacey has repeatedly stated that the name for the band was borrowed from a friend's band that disbanded.[citation needed] Between their formation in 2000 and Your Favorite Weapon's release in 2001, Brand New released two demo CDs, the first of which was originally available as a free MP3 download on their website. Both demos contained songs that were rerecorded for Your Favorite Weapon.

[edit] Your Favorite Weapon

After signing a single album deal on Triple Crown Records, the band set to work on their debut, Your Favorite Weapon. The album was to be a mix of rerecorded songs from their demos as well as several new ones. The album was produced by Mike Sapone[3] and was a moderate success. The record deal gave the band the opportunity to tour, both nationally and internationally, supporting bands like Taking Back Sunday, Less Than Jake, Glassjaw, Incubus and Finch.[4]

The first and only single released from Your Favorite Weapon was "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad", which received airplay on both MTV2 and Fuse.

In August 2002, Iodine Recordings released Your Favorite Weapon on 12" vinyl along with an extra track, "...My Nine Rides Shotgun", a demo from the band's early days. 500 copies were pressed on clear blue vinyl and 100 copies were pressed on white. Because of high demand, Iodine Recordings repressed Your Favorite Weapon in early 2003 on clear vinyl, limited to 300 copies.

Soon after the release of Your Favorite Weapon, the band released two songs on a split EP with Safety in Numbers, which contained the tracks "Moshi Moshi" and a cover of Love Spit Love's "Am I Wrong". "Moshi Moshi" was also later available as a B-side on the UK "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad" single.

[edit] Deja Entendu

The band's second album, Deja Entendu, was released in June 2003 to much acclaim. The album contains slower, deeper songs than those on Your Favorite Weapon, with a more polished sound. The album was produced by Steven Haigler, who was the sound engineer on the Pixies' Trompe le Monde.[5] The title is French, literally translating to "already heard," which is said to be a comment on the band's opinion of modern music sounding similar. Jesse Lacey got the name for the album while watching an episode of Jeopardy!. The band has stated that most of the songs were not demoed and were "rushed", and that eleven out of the twelve songs recorded for the album appeared on it - with only "Flying At Tree Level (Version 1.0)" left off, which later appeared on the Beer: The Movie soundtrack. "Play Crack the Sky", whose title refers to Lacey's friend yelling out "play 'Crack the Sky'!" during another band's concert, was a late addition. The album debuted at number 63 on the Billboard 200.[6]

Three singles were released from this album on Eat Sleep Records and Sorepoint Records. The first single released was "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows." Their second single from the album, "Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades," is a shortened version of the common Latin phrase sic transit gloria mundi ("Thus passes the glory of the world") and is a reference to a line from the movie Rushmore. Both of these singles were top 40 hits within the UK, and their videos received relatively heavy rotation on MTV2 and Fuse TV.[4] The band released a third single from this album, "I Will Play My Game Beneath the Spin Light," solely for radio play.[7]

During 2003, their debut album was also remastered and re-released, followed by its debut in Australia and Japan in early 2004. A limited edition EP, entitled The Holiday EP, was released soon after the album in late 2003, available only to the band's Street Team members. It contained demos from Deja Entendu, album art by artist Brian Ewing, as well as a new song - "O Holy Night." Available for only the price of postage, this EP sold out quickly, and has never been re-released. Consequently, it is extremely rare.

On December 28, 2003, New York Times music critic Kelefa Sanneh ranked Deja Entendu number 5 on his Top 10 albums of the year. Brand New were also named Alternative Press' Artist of the Year in their annual Reader's Poll.[8]

Between May 2004 and June 2005, no new material or information was publicly released to fans. During that time, however, the band signed to major label Dreamworks. Interscope Records bought out the label shortly after.[4]

[edit] The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me

In late 2005, Brand New started recording their highly-anticipated third album in Oxford, Mississippi with producer Dennis Herring, but later dropped him in favor of Mike Sapone with whom they had worked on their first album.[1]

On January 24, 2006, nine demos recorded in preparation of the new album were leaked onto the Internet. All nine tracks were untitled and were of unknown origin. It was stated by an unknown source that these demos "probably won't be on Fight Off Your Demons", the then-rumored title for the new album based on the band's new website address. In the following months, with Brand New doing their first tour dates in over 18 months, a few songs from the demos were performed with a full band, some were fleshed out and had new lyrics. New songs had their debut as well during the summer tour dates. There was much speculation about the names of songs and the album name but very little solid information. Brand New began their first tour in years on June 20, 2006 at New Jersey's famous Starland Ballroom, where Lacey stated that the album had been finished the previous day.

After much speculation and rumor regarding the final release date, and Alternative Press publishing a preliminary date of October 10, 2006, as the release date, the official website announced that the new album would finally be released on November 21, 2006 in North America, and the day before in Europe. Soon after, a track listing and cover art were revealed, as well as new information regarding the release of the first actual single - "Sowing Season" - one of the new tracks previewed during the summer tour. "Sowing Season" was revealed to be the final version of the song formerly known to fans as "Untitled 08". The single finally got a public airing on radio on October 19, 2006, and appeared on their MySpace page a day later. According to Lacey in a radio interview from the UK (BBC Radio 1 with Zane Lowe), the title The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me is taken from a conversation he had with his friend about the musician Daniel Johnston, who has bipolar disorder.[9]

In late December 2006, an unusual video was released for the instrumental track "Untitled", also known as "-", which mainly consists of a man spray painting a wall with "evil and good are raging Inside me" and correcting it to give the album title. On January 16, 2007, "Jesus Christ" was announced as being the "official" first single from the album. On January 19, the band performed the song on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. They performed it again on February 26 on the Late Show with David Letterman.[10]

From January to June 2007, the band toured the United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia, including a headline slot on the UK's Give It A Name tour and playing the main stage at The Bamboozle festival. Despite the band's reluctance towards the press around the time of the release of the album, they were featured in Alternative Press, a cover story for Rock Sound, Kerrang!, and NME. The band went tour for the fall of 2007, with openers Thrice and mewithoutYou. In early 2008, Brand New toured Australia and New Zealand on the Big Day Out festival.[11]

On October 19, 2007, the band announced via their MySpace and their official website that a new song, entitled "(Fork and Knife)", would be released online on October 23, 2007. "(Fork and Knife)", a rerecorded version of the track formerly called "Untitled 7" by fans from the leaked demos, was released as a single track download. The song has, thus far, been exclusively an Internet download and has yet to see a physical release. The song was released in Japan on October 31, 2007.

[edit] Post Devil and God Events

On March 21, 2008, Alternative Press reported that Brand New started their own record label, named Procrastinate! Music Traitors. The first act signed to the new label was longtime friend Kevin Devine.[12] The first release from this label will be a reissue of the 2006 Kevin Devine album Put Your Ghost To Rest[13]

On April 20, 2008, Lacey stated that Brand New has been tentatively recording new material for their next album. No speculation on release date.

Jesse Lacey is slated for a short west coast tour with Kevin Devine until early August.

According to the band's Myspace page, Brand New will play at Lollapalooza in Chicago on August 2nd.

[edit] Members

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] EPs

[edit] Singles

Year Title Chart position Label Album
U.S. Modern Rock[14] U.S. Hot 100
2002 "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad" - - Eat Sleep Your Favorite Weapon
2003 "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows" 37 - Eat Sleep/Sore Point Deja Entendu
2004 "Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades" - - Sore Point
2006 "Sowing Season" - - Interscope The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me
2007 "Jesus Christ" 30 - Interscope
2007 "(Fork and Knife)" - 124 Interscope Non-album digital single

[edit] Demos

  • First four-track demo (2000)
  • Second demo (2001)
  • Deja Entendu demos (2003)
  • Devil and God demos (2006)

[edit] Compilation appearances

[edit] Videography

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Brand New Biography. Official Brand New website (2006). Retrieved on 2006-02-18.
  2. ^ Robson, Emma (2007-02-12). Raging without the bull. BBC. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
  3. ^ Your Favorite Weapon by Brand New. musicmatch guide. Retrieved on December 15, 2005.
  4. ^ a b c Hopkin, Kenyon (2007). Brand New: Biography. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
  5. ^ Brand New: Deja Entendu: Pitchfork Review. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on November 26, 2006.
  6. ^ Artist Chart History: Albums. Billboard. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
  7. ^ K-Rock Top 92.3 of 2004. Modern Rocklists. Retrieved on August 13, 2007.
  8. ^ Brand New Press Highlights. Razor & Tie Media Services (2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
  9. ^ Zane Lowe. "Zane Lowe interview with Jesse Lacey", BBC Radio 1, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-02. 
  10. ^ McIntee, Michael Z. (2007-02-26). Monday, February 26, 2007, Show #2713 Recap. CBS.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-28.
  11. ^ Big Day Out 08 Second Announcement. Big Day Out (2007-11-20).
  12. ^ Heisel, Scott (2008-03-21). Brand New Start Record Label, Sign Kevin Devine. Alternative Press. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
  13. ^ Terry, Ben (2008-03-23). Brand New Starts A Record Label - Signs Kevin Devine - What a Great Choice. Self-Proclaimed Expert. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  14. ^ Artist Chart History: Singles. Billboard. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Brand New
Jesse Lacey · Vincent Accardi · Garrett Tierney · Brian Lane · Derrick Sherman
Studio albums
EPs
Singles
Labels
Related articles