Brand New

Brand New mix emo-punk catharsis with radio-ready melodies so deftly that you don't even notice those two things aren't supposed to go together. Deja Entendu is bursting with cleverly phrased bitterness, has just enough Pavement to keep you listening, and contains the best song titles of the year.

"I wrote more postcards than hooks," sings Jesse Lacey, frontman for Long Island emo
quartet Brand New, on the group's second album. The guy must have written a shitload of
postcards. Deja Entendu has more than its share of irresistible singalongs, but Brand New
are more poetic and musically adventurous than their emo peers: Bass lines veer toward
funky rather than brute; layered guitar parts add a nearly psychedelic effect; a... More >