Cuz I Can Dish It Out

Brand New!

For some reason I feel like I've been on a kick of "non-metal" type music. But you know what, it all balances out.

So Brand New is one of those bands that jumps to mind when you think of sad-sounding pop/indie/emo kids who actually probably have a pretty comfortable life with parents who love them, fans who adore them, and a dog that they probably got in college thinking it'd be cool to have a pet, and if they didn't wind up having to tour all the time, they'd actually probably take care of the little fuzzball and be known to their friends as "that guy who always brings his dog along to bbqs and the beach and stuff". And you know what, that's okay. Because they write some pretty decent music. Even though the lyrics are fraught with (at times) ultra-sad heartbreak imagery, it seems obvious that desperation is their inspiration...as the Bronx would say... Of course, that being said, Brand New is one of the few bands I'll actually pay attention to, and take note of, the lyrics. Usually I'll just listen to the melody/rhythm of the singer, but vocalist Jesse Lacey has a really interesting (if not dark) way about his lyricism. For example, the song "Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades" tells a tale of a young man's loss of innocence at the hands of the girl he loves who sees their relationship (physical and otherwise) as purely a means to an end rather than the sunshine, lollipops, unicorns, and puppy dogs the boy had hoped for. Of course Lacey has a more subtle, tricky way of painting this picture. Sure there are heavy themes of sadness, desperation, heartbreak, and general woe...but isn't that what drives most decent artists anyway? Van Gogh cut off his ear. I'm just saying...

Okay, so apart from the lyrics, Brand New has really come to sonically carve out a little niche in my music library...musbrary if you will...libric? No. Musbrary. I'm not sure who in the band does most of the song writing and composing, but they've got a very, very delicate way of layering their songs. I can best relate this by taking you through the song "Jesus Christ" (you can hear it at http://www.purevolume.com/brandnew). So come, take a journey with me...this way:

VERY reverbed out guitar playing solo
Intro lick comes in, also very verb'd out (gives a very roomy, spaced out, ambient feel)
note: on top of the ambient, clean tones of the guitars, the melodies they're playing are very repetitive and sing-songy...well before the song is a minute old, you're already zoned out lost in the "space" they've created by the simplicity of the riff and the roomy tone of the guitars.
Then drums, bass, and vocals all come in.
The drums are playing in a very simple, straight 4/4 time
The bass is clean and sounds finger picked (because you can't hear the attack of a pick or ANY distortion or fuzz to speak of)
The vocals almost sound like he's singing at a talking volume. He's barely projecting. All these elements keep the feeling of the song very intimate and ambient...accentuated by the weird little harmonics happening here'n'there and the breathiness of his singing.
Throughout this bit there are weird noises happening in the background that space out this beginning part of the song even more. It's all adding to the ambiance they're creating which will be contrasted as the song peaks.
As an end to this establishment of the mood of the music, the intro riff comes back. I feel like this punctuates the beginning of the "rising action" of the song.
Now you'll be able to hear things VERY slowly start to build.
Right when that intro lick ends, you can barely hear two things happen:
Another guitar starts strumming chords over that melody that's been playing the whole song. This guitar will gain in volume and gain (heh) over the next few bars. As it becomes more of a presence the song will begin to gain in intensity.
Also, there's a very faint keyboard playing a little melody in the background. This adds to the space of the song. Combined with everything else that's going on, things start sounding very full.
At this point, the vocals and drums pick up as well.
First, there are small background vocals added in...be it single lines behind the main vocal line or specific harmonized lines. Then the singer starts projecting a little more and more until he's all but yelling the lyrics. It's a slow progression, and most times I don't realize it's happened until he's already belting it out.
While vocals are picking up, the drums follow this rising and eventual climax in the song. The drummer picks up from single snare hits to doubling up. As things start peaking he moves up from quarter notes on the hi-hat to eighth notes. He in essence picks the pace of the song up from a walking to a running pace that ends on that last note that things die out on.

Now, the coolest part of the song. Everything peters out. What comes back is the simple riff that the song started out at...which, if you weren't listening to the song note-for-note, you completely missed the fact that it built from such a soft, slow, delicate melody to a more "frantic" drum beat, a big fuzzed out guitar strumming chords over everything, and the singer all but yelling. It's SUUUUCH a subtle change, and they point it out by directly contrasting where the song is to where it started.

So awesome. There aren't many bands that I've heard that are capable of that level of subtlety and I really enjoy that. And I hope you did too.