2009年 09月 28日 月曜日 21:37
It's really weird. I haven't started reviewing something like that in forever. It's starts off with soft piano music with some lady who I've never heard before, jumps into screamo (Vices), calms down to a ballad-like song (Bed), jumps back to screamo (At The Bottom), and then steadies into a Brand New-esque sound. I love it now after about 2 weeks of listening, but it had to seriously grown on me to get to here.
Vices…. What a fucking weird song. It starts off with some weird and very crappy quality piano laden music with some lady that sounds like it should fit more in the 1950's, and then after about a minute of "seriously, what the fuck?", it jumps into some hard drumming and bass guitar, and then screaming is just plopped on top. While the lyrics make no sense (and were 99% unable to be discerned on the first listen) and I'm not usually one for screaming at the top of your lungs, this song has seriously grown on me, and even though it's only about 1:30 of actual music, it's gone to the top of my Brand New scale. Not everyone's cup of tea, but an interesting opening song that will scare away any mellow rock fans
Bed…. Being in bed or going to bed seems to be a weird theme throughout the album, and this song sort of sets it. It has a very catchy chorus, but it repeats often and only has like one variation. It is very mellow and almost the complete opposite of the track before it. Unless you hate all forms of rock or are a total metalhead, it's tough to not like this song. Nice beat, catchy, downtempo, very ambient, and just nice all around.
At The Bottom…. No doubt the best "single"-type song on the album, and I guess that's why they released it first. At first, I thought this song was shit, but then I started listening to the melody of it and everything is just well put-together when I think about it. After leaning the lyrics, I just bust out in song on this one now. While they lyrics may be hard to make out, once I learned them, they don't really make sense but work well together and are very catchy, as are the other songs.
Gasoline…. Pretty interesting, not my type of song, but definitely Brand New-like, just in a different sort of way. The guitar works very well in this song, and I think it would be more of a casual listener's type of song.
You Stole…. Great song. Very downtempo and trance-y. I kind of just nod off to this song in a good way and hate when it's over. The drums in this song go perfectly with everythin else, they keep a great beat and aren't as crazy as most of the other song's drumming, which while not necessarily good, is what this song needs. The 2-word chorus can get kind of boring, but I still haven't found it to be so yet.
Be Gone…. One of the typical Brand New interludes, and it's very good. I find myself waiting for the end repetition, which just feels good in my ears. It's short and sweet, but nothing special, and I can see why most people hate it intensely.
Sink…. same sort of thing as Gasoline, but more what I'd like to hear in a song. I have to admit, the song name is great and just got me intrigued for some reason, something not to many songs have done (Limousine and The Archers Bows Have Broken are two other names that have done that). The guitar is clean and good, something most people will appreciate.
Bought A Bride… need a little more time to think about this bad boy.
Daisy…. Is up there with Tautou and Archers as my favorites. It has great progression (See: Lazy Eye-esque) with haunting lyrics and earth-shattering backbeats. Very short but lovable (See: Tautou), and it's a VERY powerful song.
In A Jar…. Also very neat progression and degression on this song. The "Stones in your eyes" part gets me going all the time, and it sounds like it's going to be an almost acoustic song until the chorus (of which lyrics I can still not understand at all). It's definitely a great song, and for some reason I feel like it should go towards the beginning to rope more people into it, but that would take it out of the 3:06 run of songs (seriously, this album has 3 songs in a row clocking at 3:06).
Noro…. Very, very, very good. Typical Brand New 7 minute jam session. Like Limousine, it ends with very little variation in lyrics for about 4 minutes, but while repeating a powerful lyric with some interesting background vocals and strong instrument jamming. A great way to end the album, and it goes back to one of Brand New's strategies that has been tried and tested from before, and grabs another hit.
Overall, this album is great. It's very interesting and yet another change of style completely in song, but not necessarily in structure. With the exception of Bought A Bride and Gasoline (which I only like and respect), I now love every song on this album. Rating? Well, if their past conquest was a 9.5/10 (it changed me as a person) and their sophomore attempt an 8.5, this also gets an 8.5/10, maybe jumping up to a 9 as soon as I figure out Bought A Bride.