"There is absolutely nothing on Devil that will make someone recall 2001’s Your Favorite Weapon; only a handful of tracks could even be compared to the band’s 2003 breakthrough Deja Entendu (“Archers” and “Not The Sun”). The rest of the material—from the heavily Modest Mouse-influenced “Jesus Christ” to the chilling dirge “Limousine”—is quantum leaps above not only Brand New’s prior work (including the leaked batch of demos from earlier this year, two of which—“Sowing Season (Yeah)” and “Luca”—made the album in radically different forms), it’s beyond anything that any band in this scene are currently creating. Simply put, Brand New have no peers.
But be forewarned: This album is dark, difficult, depressing and desolate-there is no happy here. Hell, there are barely any choruses...I’ve compared this record to Radiohead’s The Bends; not so much because of the musical content, but more so because if the band were able to fight off their demons long enough to make this record, we’re only a few short years away from their OK Computer. And who knows what they’ll come up with for that."
New Arrival
New Arrival
