Original, huh?
Oh, The Demos. How long have we awaited thee? I have no idea, but what I do know is that many aging east-coast ‘original’ emo kids in anticipation of something, anything new probably came in their pants when they heard about them. Now, when I say ‘aging,’ I mean that the mid-teenies who got their hands on
Your Favorite Weapon have now reached legal drinking age. And they still want their Brand New, damnit. Well, I’ll drink to that.
After all the rumors and the whining, nine untitled demo tracks were leaked onto the internet a couple months ago. More rumors and whining followed this turn of events. The latest craze is the recently-announced Brand New Tour. Limited tickets, scalping prices, tears and rage…good times. The Chicago House of Blues show sold out in about 40 minutes without gracing me with a single ticket. But am I bitter? No, I’ve just consoled myself with an unhealthy preoccupation with The Demos. Is there a new album on the horizon? Are they real signs of actual activity over the last three years instead of the orgy of coke, beer, and skinny girls that I can only imagine all rock stars to partake in? One rumor is that these were songs cut from
Deja Entendu. Who the hell knows? All I can tell you is what this skinny Mid-Western girl thinks about some demos she ripped off the internet.
That said, The Demos are unmistakably demos. The quality is crappy, at best, the sound is unmixed, causing the vocals and/or instruments to become distorted. But I suppose, after three years of relative silence, they will have to do.
“Untitled 1.” The name just rolls off your tongue, doesn’t it? Here we have a bare-boned acoustic track, yet still distinctly Brand New. It sounds a lot like the mood of
Deja's “Tautou” combined with the style of “Play Crack The Sky.” It’s a short and simple track, and pretty forgettable. To make it more memorable, I decided to give it the name of “Girl, I Was a Dick When We Dated, But Apparently I’m Sorry Now, and Full of Adorable Regret.”
Moving on, we have “Untitled 2,” the most notorious, hotly debated, and in my opinion, best and most promising track out of all nine. I call it, “We’re Not The Smiths, But We Can Sure as Hell Try.” Yes, it sounds like a blatant Smiths rip-off. But do I care? Hell no, I love The Smiths! I’m glad their sound hasn’t been lost in the 80’s. I know that a mastered version of this song would boast orgasmic guitar solos that would bring the house down at any show. The lyrics are amazing, exactly what we want from our boys: perfect, biting, haunting, emo: “If there's any justice in Heaven, then God wont let me in / He'll lock the gates and take my weekend pass away / With a sympathetic wave they'll see me off / He took my golden crown while I am cursed to walk the earth for millenia / I know I deserve worse but it terrifies me and I can't take it anymore.” It just don’t get better than that. If you steal only one illigitmate Brand New Demo this year, make it number 2.
“Untitled 3” is another acoustic track. It’s a little more fulfilling than “Untitled 1” with a coherent theme and some back-up vocals. The chorus is distinguishable, catchy even, if not a bit confusing. I call this one “Don’t Fuck With My Brother.” It’s got a nostalgic and meloncholy tone, again in the same vein as “Play Crack The Sky,” yet this track shows a bit more maturity from our boys. The song is almost topical, perhaps an attempt at a political song, albiet a weak one. Hey, at least it’s a start.
The forth track starts out with what I can only assume is a flimsy attempt at a synthesized sountrack to an old video game. Eventually it picks up a routine rock tone, which is reassuring enough in its familiarity. However, I’d almost say this song is a step backwards towards the
Your Favorite Weapon days with the generic guitar chords and harmonized chorus. “I'm happy to admit that maybe I am a little depressed / ‘Cuz I'm missing you to death.” Please. Done much? I call this one “Another Shallow Emo Song With Vague Nautical References.” C’est une classique.
“Untitled 5” starts off with a promising beat and guitar theme. The song flows nicely, and even the unmastered demo version has captivating potential. The song employs a hostage situation metaphore, quite well I may add. It may be in the same vein as New End Orginal’s “Hostage,” but it manages to convey some originally. It rises to a dramatic swell in the middle causing the lyrics to become distorted, which I find a bit unnecessary, but I’m sure many fans will dig the scremo-estque vibes. Despite its pitfalls (why the hell is it seven minutes long?), this song is distinct, unique, and fairly promsing. I call it “The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men,” and I really hope they do, too.
The sixth track goes acoustic again, but with a very Simon and Garfunkle meets emo feel to it, which I really dig. A sad and lonely song, perhaps a bit drawn-out, but very haunting indeed. A little work could turn “Untitled 6,” or “Scarbourogh Fair, Where Have You Been?” into a Brand New Classic.
“Untitled 7” has a lighter feel which is welcoming even on an unvarsnished demo track. Here Brand New also has a quite successful first encounter (to my knowledge) with a piano, which replaces the guitar on this track. I am curious to hear what a mastered version of this song would sound like. Despite its rawness, this track shows unbelieveable promise as a new lazy summertime anthem for the emo generation. I call it “A Morning Song.”
Back to the acoustic, “Untitled 8” gives off the feel of something Conor Oberest recorded in a dingy basement or tour bus…but in a good way? The low-fi quality is a bit unnerving. Nonetheless, it’s sorrowful, desperate, pathetic, Brand New at its most honest. The song seems longer than its five minutes, but maybe that’s because of the indistinguishable lyrics and the feeling that they might change your life…if only you could hear them! “Brand Bright New Eyes?” is my unoffical title.
“Untitled 9.” Have we finally made it? What a journey! This one begins a little Smiths/Cure-esque, but not blatent as track 2. Despite the fact that no one seems to be able to figure out what the hell the chorus is, this is a solid demo, as paradoxical as that may sound. If another album is on the way, I hope this one (“They Come on Battalions…The Tallyons? Huh?”) is on it.
And thus concludes our magical mystery tour. Overall, I can see the promise in most of these tracks whether or not it’s really there. I guess now I’ll go back to desperately awaiting more brand new Brand New news (say that five times fast) while attempting to sell my soul on e-bay in hopes of finding tickets to the Chicago show. Peace.
-MLE
and i'll bet they're laughing at us right now.
the lyrics?any method to the madness?
