Brand New Band • Page 45

That's fair. I guess the difference for me is it still totally holds up. Because really, along with early Jimmy Eat World records, Deja is what got me into music. Still a very special record for me.

 

I spent longer than I'd care to admit on it and almost gave up writing it halfway through so I'm glad people seem to appreciate it. :p

 

They most definitely could announce it and release it two days later lol they don't have to be as big as Radiohead to pull it off lol

 

Brand New has an extremely dedicated fanbase that will buy a new album the second it's out, so they could absolutely pull it off. They're nowhere near the size of Radiohead, but that's not the point.

 

Depends what it means to say "pull it off." Could they do it, well, duh, anyone can do it. What you define success by (money, marketing reach, impact) would be interesting. I don't think it's the best way to maximize any of those three things from a band of their size's standpoint though.

 

I know for a fact this to be untrue.

Nope. Just completely not even remotely true. The secret track on the album? That's the label being pissed off they wouldn't just record shit and release the album.

 

But it would make me happy, and I'd call that a successful release

 

Man I thought this shit was over. I regret speaking entirely in the case, and was just in general having a shitty day. Didn't expect or mean anything badly, just a shit communicater and probably human. And I'm probably wrong 90% of the time I speak. (Which everyone has made very clear in every way at this point).

 

you kind of do need to be as big as radiohead to pull it off, though. the whole point of a surprise release is to garner as much attention as possible and dominate any music related conversation for weeks. sure, brand new has a dedicated fan base, but they aren't big enough to do that.

the last artist that i can think of from this """scene""" to do a surprise release is say anything. that album dropped 3 months ago and, as far as i can tell, NOBODY has talked about it since then lol.

you keep bringing up that you think they could drop a surprise release, but you don't think they will. okay? i think jesse lacey *could* hand deliver a new brand new album to me (and only me) today, but i don't think he will.

 

Keep in mind that Say Anything record was not recirved well By the vast majority of people... I don't think you can blame their roll out technique for people's disinterest in discussing that record.

 

neither were anarchy my dear or hebrews and i still see those albums brought up. seems like everyone (myself included) just forgot say anything released an album this year/existed.

beyonce released lemonade two weeks ago and already the buzz for that album has started to die down..

 

Buzz is relative, I was in a room where 5-8 people were talking about Lemonade for about an hour straight today

 

I would argue Say Anything was never on the same level as Brand New, though. Their last few albums weren't all that well-received even by fans, so a surprise album from them was sort of a gift for their most diehard fans and something nobody else really cared about or particularly clamored for to begin with. It's pretty different if you have a band like Brand New where the vast majority of fans are clinging to every scrap of news. Remember the Shone thing? When there was even a remote hint of that being related to new Brand New, it almost immediately became the biggest thread in absolutepunk history. If Brand New dropped an album tomorrow, it would definitely garner a lot more attention than I Don't Think It Is and it would definitely not be forgotten... I mean, the leaked demos got no release for ten years, but nobody forgot about those. It was apparently fan interest that got the band to finally start playing those songs and eventually release them.

This band has one of the most diehard fanbases I can think of. They could definitely pull off a surprise release.

And again, they have before; the leaked demos were a surprise and sold out almost immediately. Twice. On cassette tapes. Here we are almost six months later, and fans are still clamoring for a vinyl release. And that's for material they've all heard before. You really think they wouldn't kick all that into high gear for new material?

 

brand new are closer to say anything's size than they are to radiohead's. they have a very niche following. they are not a mainstream act.

and i mean, yeah. diehards will listen to an album no matter how it's released. of course. if you want new fans, or people who only have a slight interest in the band to check out a new album surprise releasing it probably is not the best way to go.

brand new could release a new album in five minutes time and would absolutely dominate the conversation on this site for the next five months, easy. how would that make somebody who is unfamiliar with the band check out the album, though? shone was the same. the announcement led to the biggest thread in absolutepunk history. sure. how many people bought that album, though?

how limited were those demo cassete tapes demos? 300 for each pressing?

 

Daisy debuted at 6 on the Billboard top 200. I Don't Think It Is didn't crack it. I think they're a lot bigger than you think they are.

Pretty much every show Brand New plays sells out within seconds. I don't think they really have to care about bringing in new fans or people with only a slight interest; they don't make money off of their record sales, the revenue comes from touring, which again, they have more than covered.

Shone's show sold out before anybody heard more than a single song from them, so there's that.

Don't know how many were in the first two pressings, but they're still pressing them, so it was probably more than a few hundred.

 

daisy debuted at 6 on the billboard top 200 7 years ago which succeeded their highly received third album. they also followed a traditional album release in a climate where people still bought albums.

say anything's self titled record, released the same year, peaked at number 25. the album they released after that peaked at 22.

every artist ever cares about bringing in new fans. they're releasing the album on their own record label; of course they make money from it.

shone sold out one show? what was the capacity of that one venue?

 

I had no idea those messages were from the label. That's pretty crazy and adds even more context to the record. I'm still amazed they got away releasing the album and promoting it the way they did, and then to follow it up with even less accessible record.

Do you know if the label had any say on changing the first verse of Sowing Season from "losing all my friends, didn't want them back" to "losing all my friends, but I got them back"? From some reason, that's one line in particular that's always struck me as a label decision since Jesse seems to sing the latter version more often. Of course, that could just be a decision he makes on the fly depending on his mood, or forgetting the lyrics.

 

Brand New is order of magnitudes larger than Say Anything.

 

Label had no say in lyrical decisions.

 

Today is the day!

Probably not, but new Radiohead is a good jam.

 

That's because the album was really bad. If that album was good people would still talk about it.

 

I don't think I'd consider 2009 to be before the big boom in music piracy.

Those are both a far cry away from 6. It's also worth noting that both dropped off the charts after 2 weeks. The longest SA ever spent on the charts was 3 weeks. Brand New's longest was 26. Daisy lasted their shortest at 6 weeks, twice as long as Say Anything's longest. Brand New is, by all accounts, a lot bigger. If Say Anything felt comfortable enough to do a surprise release, there's no way it's anywhere near impossible for Brand New to do one.

Of course they care, but enough for it to be a top priority? I doubt it. Brand New has released a grand total of two BN things under their own label: Mene and Leaked Demos 2006. They surprise launched both, and gave both away for free. It really doesn't seem like making money off of record/digital sales is their biggest concern.

 

sure. compare their size to radiohead's though

say anything <<< brand new <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< radiohead

people still mention how bad anarchy my dear and hebrews are. nobody mentions i dont think it is. imo unless an artist dominates the music discussion the day/week of release, a surprise drop doesn't really "work". people forget about the album and move on. don't think that would happen with brand new, but they aren't nearly as big as artists who have *successfully* pulled a surprise drop off, like beyonce or radiohead.

there was a flyer sent out for the leaked demos and the discussion on ap was dominated by bn for weeks (months?) until they finally released them. that's not a surprise release. if i was a betting man i would imagine we'll get something similar to shone/mene/lyric booklets/demos 2006 as promo for the new record.

i absolutely 100% do not see them releasing an album before this summer tour begins, surprise drop or not.

 

Brand New could do a successful surprise release, not only because of their size, but because of what constitutes a large portion of their fan base: millennials who are highly active on various forms of social media (I mean, go on tumblr, Brand New stuff is everywhere). They'd be trending in no time and be getting plenty of exposure to newer audiences as well as pre-existing fans. It's the perk of having a large, younger fan-base.
That being said, I honestly have no idea if that's something Brand New would do. They're definitely all about doing what they want to do, how they want to do it, so I guess it's possible.

 

I stand by my thought that the smallest window from announcement to release that we will see is a month.