Brand New Band • Page 378

For your sake, I hope you're not a glassjaw fan.

 

Ha! Beyond EYEWTKAS, I am not. I am grateful haha

 

That's a shame, some of their best stuff is post eyewtkas. But yeah, they are even more frustrating than Brand New.

 

Just never really listened past that.

 

Where can I find those slippers? Just made a terrible mistake buying this but I don't care

 

Wait is there not a picture of the shirt with it? Also when it says "Masks and more" does that just mean the shirt? I hate merch that isn't specific at all about what you are receiving.

 

Nope, no picture of the shirt. Brand New being cryptic is par for the course.

 

No one I know is surprised I bought this. I don't know if I like that.

 

Something I was thinking about while listening to Brand New in the car today that I thought was interesting.


How is/how does Brand New stay so wildly popular/huge? I know that I probably know some of the answer is becuase of the mystery/ mystique of the band.

Other examples I was thinking of were Thrice and Taking Back Sunday. These probably aren't the best examples but I'll go with them lol. On the one hand, Thrice was pretty successful in the mainstream industry after Artist came out. Then they put out Vhessiu which was still pretty successful. After this they do alchemy but a major isn't going to want put that out. They continue to be successful and put out albums etc.

Taking Back Sunday the other example that I pulled out came from quite the same scene as Brand New. Highly successful with TAYF, WYWTB, and LN. Also a band played on MTV, huge in the mainstream, played arenas etc. Obviously with internal issues and a album like New Again they sort of fell off the map but found footing with the original line up and play to decent venues, still do well on a independent label.

Back to my question though. How does Brand New still play to arenas when they basically have no promo, music videos, singles etc. I just don't know how they were able to put out albums like Deja, Devil and God and be hugely successful and be on like Modest Mouse level in "indie" music

Hopefully this doesn't seem like rambling or incoherent

Edit: also I know it's because they put out great records as well lol

 

Because their music is really great and has stood the test of time.

 

They pull from a lot of different fanbases. That has to factor in.

 

Good enough answer for me haha

 

This.

There's also no other Brand New. Really though. I've yet to hear another record by someone else that has covered the same ground that they've covered on their last two albums especially. I find it really hard to define them under a specific genre.. they're just Brand New to me.

But I do wonder this all the time.. where all the fans came from I guess intrigues me. The fact that they can sell out MSG..

 

Their die hard fans, their cross-over appeal, Tumblr... There are so many factors, it's insane

 

No matter what genre/style they play around with, their music is always catchy.

 

Like, few of their songs don't have a big chorus.

 

I think the only ones that don't have a big chorus are the instrumentals/untitled tracks and Be Gone

 

Was really cool to finally hear Handcuffs live tonight.

 

Yeah it was! Great light show and fantastic acoustics, the venue really was pretty much perfect.

That being said, what a weird crowd.

 

@phillyfradet

RIP @skatinbrad

 

I would love to have some masks and a shirt for $40. I think that is a good deal. But there is no way I am buying it without seeing the shirt. What a bs thing to do

 

I think it has to do with the perception of their music. I don't think their music is anything that more amazing than a lot of the bands that shared the same scene (not to discredit their work). But they make dark and moody records like Devil and God and Daisy, when other bands are totally content just making straight rock records. All of untitled tracks and inaudible vocals and the noise on Daisy give them the perception of being "artistic" and deep. I'm not trying to diss them. It does work in their favor. I just think that if they just released Deja Entendu and then more records like that they wouldn't be near as big.

Bands like Taking Back Sunday were content just to make catchy rock music like Louder Now and New Again (which can be just as rewarding to listen to as deep emotional records like Devil and God) and didn't really try to make a bigger artwork until Happiness Is (which did well with critics).

Sorry for the ramble, ultimately think it just has to do with how critics respond to albums and how they favor more "artistic" records and then there are a large amount of people who will listen to those albums. Brand New aren't just an emo band on Absolutepunk, they have acclaim with lots of other more mainstream sites as a solid rock band.

 

I don't think Brand New was really covered by """cool""" """taste making""" indie publications until pretty recently though. They were covered by pretty regular, mainstream publications through their whole career, although there was that one Deja review Pitchfork did around the time they would rip on emo for fun (which, honestly, isn't a terrible review despite the occasional mean spirited jab). Like I have no doubt that critics have something to do with it, but I doubt it's much more than the actual music -- seems like most of the critics stoked on Brand New now are people who were growing up when they were more active / during this seven year period between albums and grew up with the music. And Brand New has a fanbase that encompasses pretty widely along the age spectrum, and I am positive not enough of them are getting into Brand New via critical discourse or whatever to make that the big factor. If anything, I think Brand New's popularity is probably due to coming in a unique time. Their growth isn't dissimilar to "organic" pre-internet band growth imo, and they've always seemed to conduct themselves like a pre internet band in my eyes. So that combination of word of mouth spread combined with the ease of actually finding them with the internet seems huge to me. Not that that doesn't happen anymore or whatever, just that for them it happened at a particular time that helped make the growth massive.

It helps that they're just really good and if you heard them from the mainstream coverage (ie MTV music videos for Deja songs or something, which is doubtful in 2016) you can listen and see that for the most part, it holds up

 

could the shirt be the TDAGARIM shirt that they are selling on tour? would make sense...

 

Anyone selling two GA tickets to the Grand Rapids date by any chance?