Progression or Regression?

This is what comes to my head while I listen to the new Brand New album, 'Daisy'. This is one of those albums that will definately polarize their fans. The first glance at the album artwork struck me as weird right off the bat. On one hand, 'Daisy' is an incredible departure from their previous work. As musicians this must have been very hard for them because they were great at their style of post-hardcore/rock. Not to say that this album isn't crafted well, however. 'Daisy' is fast, heavy, and angry. They incorporate more noise and distortion into all of their songs, which is awesome in my opinion. Any emo band would love to add this album to their discog. But then there are the fans looking for a follow up to Brand New's last album, 'The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me'. I'll be honest; at first, I was lumped into that second category. When I heard the aggression and noise in the first song on 'Daisy' (Vices) I thought to myself "Who the fuck is this? I thought I downloaded the new Brand New???". It is that much of a change in their sound. No joke. After listening to it pretty much constantly over the past few days however, I realized what a monster of an album this is.

God damn, is 'Daisy' dark. I thought TDAGARIM was dark but this is just heart-wrenching stuff, and that is what I love about Brand New. This isn't emo, this is beyond that. They are pushing the genre into new territory. Emo as we knew it in the early 2000's is dead. This is the new sound. There are still songs that sound like Brand New (Bed, You Stole, Sink) but the others are heavy hitters. The track that will be hardest for fans will be 'Be Gone', a dark effect-riddled journey into a man's pain. The vocals are so fucked up and I LOVE IT.

This album combines my love for weird and angry music. I'm giving it four confused looks out of five. If you have an open mind and open ears, this album will grow on you. 'Daisy' cements Brand New into that category of bands that will always be evolving on their own terms, like Radiohead, Queens Of The Stone Age, and Beck. The future is bright for Brand New.