Why Brand New matters more than any other band today...

Have you heard of Brand New? There's a fairly good chance you have. They've had a few moderately popular singles on modern rock radio and kids on the 'net can't seem to stop raving about them.

I know what you're thinking: "Oh, wow, another Internet hype story. Which pretentious blogger is creaming his/her pants about them now?" but it's not that simple...

Allow me to use this analogy. We all know Pearl Jam, right? Back in the early 90's, along with Nirvana, Pearl Jam were basically the poster boys for the whole grunge thing. Hell, Time magazine even threw Eddie Vedder on the cover proclaiming him the "voice of a generation" and writing about how he was the lord and savior for all those angry/depressed/angsty kids who suffered from real pain (or were merely pissed that there dad asked them to take out the garbage). Their videos were getting constantly played on MTV (you remember when MTV played videos, right?), their songs were all over the radio, sold out shows, magazine covers, etc. Problem was, the band didn't want to have it anymore. They loved to make MUSIC. They didn't want to play the game. So they took matters into their own hands. They stopped making videos. They didn't' even release a proper single when their second disc, Vs. came out, they fought TicketMaster and tried to schedule a tour avoiding all TicketMaster venues. Sure, they didn't succeed on all levels but the point is this: THEY DIDN'T LET OVEREXPOSURE KILL THEM.

Throw a stone at the average mid-twentysomething American and they'll know Pearl Jam. They'll probably say something along the lines of "Oh yeah, they're old stuff was great before they got all wierd." And therein lies the genius of Pearl Jam. They never went away. They continued putting out interesting records a good 10 years after they faded away from the mainstream. Sure, there was some attention given to their last self-titled release with critics touting it as a "return to form" but really, the band has continued evolving, pushing themselves musically while not whoring themselves out. Yes, they did give interviews and, okay, they started playing TicketMaster venues again, the point was they had integrity and that portrayed the band as being somewhat mysterious in a way, which makes them even more interesting.

So, now let's talk about Brand New. For those not keeping up, they started as young kids on Long Island debuting with a record full of pop-punky ditties about girls hurting their feelings. Even though it was cliche subject matter, Your Favorite Weapon still was more accomplished then most of your Long Island pop-punk bands who whine about girls. The hooks were infection, the lyrics were clever and they didn't succumb to too many cliches. The record ended up selling 50,000 copies just based on word-of-mouth. People were watering at the mouth waiting for the follow-up, hoping to get some more witty, sarcastic, fun pop-punk songs.

And they had no idea what was in store for them.

Enter Deja Entendu released in June of 2003. A moody, more atmospheric, more mature, yet still clever, sophisticated, hooky and infection, this record was met with both shock and delight. Those fans still stuck in high school mode dismissed the band is being too pretentious. The other fans grabbed on to the record like it was a long-lost lover. They clung to ever lyric. They tried to decipher every phrase. I'll be willing to bet that almost every lyric can be found on someone's MySpace page. The band continued to tour and were clearly trying to distance themselves from the whole scene that worshiped them. With websites such as absolutepunk and punknews both giving the band approval, by the time summer 2004 rolled around, even more people were hungry for a follow-up. To add to the intensity, it was announced that they were leaving their label Razor & Tie for Interscope. Not that many people cared (though I'm sure a few still threw the "sellout" argument around), this was going to be a big release.

And then, nothing.

Literally, a year and 6 months go by. Sporadic updates of the recording sessions would come and go, but anytime someone would be standing out in the rain waiting for (insert emo band X)'s show, if the topic of Brand New came up, it was simply met with "Uh, yeah, I think they're coming out with a new one soon."

In March some demos leaked out onto the Internet. Fans were both surprised, disappointed and confused by the direction. The band was moving further and further away from its once youthful pop-punk sound. This was even moodier, darker and textured than Deja. Still, the fans continued to wait.

In late May of 2006, the band announced a tour. All the dates sold out pretty quickly. The band debuted some new material during the tour (about 2-3 songs per show) but still kept it to familiar favorites. Only, you could see the band was changing. They'd stretch out the songs a little more, indulge a little more in random bits of solos, adding new ideas and arrangements to the songs. They were becoming a BAND, they weren't just covering their own songs.

When The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me was finally released in November of '06 there was NO press done by the band. They would post blurbs on their website, but they refused to do interviews in the U.S. There were no music videos made. And, as they ignored their fans and the public more and more, the more people couldn't stop talking about them. Fans were both delighted, disappointed, enthralled and disgusted by the new direction. But most of all, NO ONE could stop talking about it. Discussion threads would go on for pages about the new direction. People were wondering why the band wasn't talking, why the band chose to keep such a low profile, why there were practically no liner notes in the new CD.

That's when I realized this band was the most important band out there today. They're not being championed by The Village Voice, they're not being raved about by "Steve's too-cool-for-school rock show" on college radio, SPIN and NME certainly aren't giving them extra coverage, but they have their OWN integrity. They are able to sell-out venues that bands with a song on Top 40 radio can't even fill. Most importantly, they get people talking about their music. People are PASSIONATE about their music. You think there's people passionate about Maroon 5? Nope. People like Maroon 5 the way they like ice cream. Enjoyable, sweet and fun. Brand New is something else. Brand New is something you can listen to for the rest of your life. Above all the bullshit that is pushed onto us by major labels, people are PULLING for Brand New. And that's why they are the smartest band out there today.