EastScene

Gatsby’s love interest; a girl scout; a type of cocktail; a plant; Jessica Simpson’s missing dog; Brand New’s fourth album. The word daisy is derived from old English’s “day’s eye”, as the flower opens at dawn and secures its petals at dusk. Day and Night (no, not of the Kid Cudi variety) could be used to describe Brand New’s forthcoming album Daisy, their last release since 2006’s critically acclaimed work The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me.

The band’s relevance during the break between albums remained intact, as both fans and musicians alike eagerly anticipated what was to come of the nearly decade-old quintet from Long Island. All speculation was laid to rest with an album announcement in April of 2009, resulting in all aficionados gearing for the unknown, as far as direction goes. After an album title change and tour announcement, Daisy was leaked and made available for all to hear.

It is doubtful that a band has ever lived up to their name quite as well as Brand New is suited for theirs. Synonymous with reinvention and the antagonist to herded-genre syndrome is exactly what they epitomize. Sacrificing themselves on the altar of compromise has never been an option, as they’ve vied with fans’ expectations to create music that is truly genuine to them and not attached like a magnet to the latest trend in the scene.

Daisy demonstrates Brand New’s latest transition into another skin, as it is their heaviest work yet. Lead singer Jesse Lacey corroborates every leap he’s made to date as the album bursts at the seams with disgruntled screams, along with lethargic bits to boot. The lyrics continue to be cryptic this time around, drenched in metaphor and open to either right or wrong interpretation. Want another kick in the pants? Guitarist Vinnie Accardi wrote much of Daisy, as opposed to the usual mass contribution made by Lacey in the rest of the Brand New catalogue.

“Vices” starts the album off with a soprano-sung gospel hymn, chilling to the bone with piano accompaniment that gushes into a dissonant mess right before a sudden burst into trilling guitars and a heavy bass line, courtesy of Garrett Tierney. The song carries its brutal crusade of noise throughout and is in stark contrast to the next track “Bed”, which cuts right in with audible vocals and a much more relaxed instrumental groundwork. Themes of mortality run rampant throughout the 40-minute length of the album, which touches on broken lives, lost love and the passing of self-entitlement. By no means does the album fail to register on the incredibly morbid scale, repeatedly mentioning the dark side of trains, immolation, and a destructive female (who may be the one addressed in many of Daisy’s tracks).

Brand New uses tempo, dynamics and frustration to their advantage by creating an album that lacks any moments of repetition or superfluity through demonstrating powerful tension and release. Day and night, as was mentioned before, is a good way of breaking down the split personality of Daisy. The heavy and held-back tracks are spread out and never of either extreme are too much to handle at any point on the disc. “At the Bottom”, the first song released, makes the best of both worlds come to life with its Devil and God-esque feel and jolting attack towards the end, preparing listeners for the heated subsequent track, “Gasoline”, which brandishes cowardice and succumbing to struggle. Brand New’s raw-to-the-bone sound authenticates their courage in a scene dominated by gratuitous perfection and creative isolation. Daisy tells us that there isn’t always a need for meticulously composed music, consisting only of cookie-cutter melodic and rhythmic arrangements—it goes far beyond that and experiments with dissonance and chaotic moments to keep the listener busy and attentive, and of course, overtly satisfied. “Sink” stands to be one of the best songs on the album, embracing Lacey’s screams and a punchy bridge that will keep you dying to sing along. Among the limited faults on the album include the too loud at times “In A Jar”—but I’m sure it’s nothing a seasoned hardcore fan couldn’t stomach. The most vocally driven song on the album is the title track, “Daisy”, which works as a haven for futile and deep reflection as Brian Lane lays down humbling percussiveness at the perfect time. Just a sample of Brand New’s capacity to write spot-on and shrewd lyrics comes from the same track: “I’m a preacher with no pulpit/ spewing a sermon that goes on and on.” Take that as you may, along with pretty much all of their libretto. Daisy comes full-circle as soon as “Noro” strikes a climactic point with submissively commanding lyrics that will surely leave you wondering about what really goes on in the artful minds of Brand New. Cut back to gospel hymn.

Brand New may have lost appeal to some fans, but they’ve sure as hell made another album that will further their reputation as a long-standing band, continually searching for a novel sound that has yet to be subject to mimicry. Daisy takes some time to fully appreciate, but the multiple hours of listening are well worth the satisfaction that will be obtained in the end.

Brand New is:
Jesse Lacey
Vinnie Accardi
Garrett Tierney
Brian Lane

Daisy is out on: Procrastinate Music Traitors/DGC/Interscope

Rating: 8.5/10

Bernarda Gospic