we learn as we age we’ve learned nothing

feels good to be able to start posting about brand new again. the announcement of their new album daisy (september 22) has struck a chord with me, and i’ve returned to deja entendu, the album that made this band a towering god in todays scene.

i wrote up a big paragraph, but then stumbled on a (shitty) review i wrote two and a half years ago, i’ll let that suffice.

How do you even begin to review an album that competely and flawlessly defined a generation?
First of all, this album cannot be cornered into a genre, nor can the band. I will say it right now: This is the most flawless, epic, entertaining, timeless piece of music that my ears have been blessed enough to hear. Deja Entendu represents all the aspects of what a perfect album really is. Brand New said it best themselves (albeit sarcastically). “This is the grace only we can bestow.”

Let it be said that every song on this album is perfect. There is not one flaw. There is not one boring second on this whole album. Every part connects and clicks and makes this album run as a whole, perfect machine. Jesse Lacey can not be pinned down. He cannot be figured out. His lyrics play the major role of the album. It’s amazing that such a great album could be so simple musically. Instead of focusing on intricate guitar parts and flying solo’s, Brand New choose to take a different path and play into their major strength: Full, steady, strong songwriting with beautiful, intelligent, mind-boggling lyricism. Jesse Lacey is the master of his craft. He is among the best song-writers of my generation.

Deja Entendu is a musical masterpiece. I can’t even begin to talk about the personal impact that this album has had on my life and the part it has played into what I have become today. Every true music lover has that one album that soars above everything else. The album that is the standard for everything. The album that is closest to their heart and never grows old, even after thousands of listens. In the last seconds of the final track “Play Crack The Sky” Lacey can be heard saying “Never to see any other way” as he quietly walks out the door. Though this is a tribute to the Beatles, Brand New was right. This album has now been implanted so deep inside of me that I don’t think any other album could make me see any other way.

looking back, not much has changed. this album has the same impact every time i play it. as trite as it sounds, deja entendu is not a collection of songs, it is a complete album, an album that defined adolescent lives across the globe, i’m just a drop in the bucket.

download:: brand new – deja entendu

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