Brand New Band • Page 613

Seatbelt
Mix Tape
Seventy
Failure
Sudden Deeath

 

Tommy Gun is the most overrated Brand New song ever

 

I have had to listen to YFW for the first time in a looooong while for this round. I was instantly reminded why I fell in love with it so hard hahah. I think I was 15 when I heard it. I ate this up back then. There is still some musical bits I really enjoy.

Really sad to see Sudden Death losing.

 

i'm inclined to agree with this

 

That's easily Soco for me

 

Hearing Jesse's live version of Soco is so good though.

 

Tommy Gun is brilliant. Love so many of the lyrics.

 

It's a fun song to sing live, but that is pretty much all I'll give it credit for at this point.

 

I think Failure by Design might be the horse I'm backing in YFW. Love the guitar in that.

 

Soco Amaretto Lime
Mix Tape
Seventy Times Seven
Failure By Design
Sudden Death In Carolina

 

I can get people falling out of love with Tommy Gun's verses, those lyrics don't hold up as well as when I first heard it. But the chorus and the bridge are what makes that song awesome.

 

We've gotten about 29 votes in, not bad for a first round. I'll keep the round open a couple more hours to see if we can't get some more to trickle in.

 

Really bummed that Shower Scene won't make it

 

Soco Amaretto Lime vs. The No Seatbelt Song
- Yo, The No Seatbelt Song may be my least favourite on the album (but I'm one of those dudes that really likes YFW so). I like the lyrics, but the delivery falls flat to me, and the drum machine in the final chorus sounds super dated. Soco, on the other hand, has its brilliant lyrics (especially because they're following all the aggressive, juvenile stuff of the previous tracks) complemented perfectly by the simple chords and strumming pattern, and I'm a sucker for when the backing vocals sing a different lyric and melody, which is why...

The Shower Scene is better than Mix Tape
- Well, that's not the only reason, but Mix Tape is a little too, I don't know, linear? Like, the songwriting on The Shower Scene is actually pretty wild and unpredictable, with that skipped beat in the breakdown and the sort of rambled off words over the music. I can't imagine any other song opening the album; it's just a quick burst of wild fury and it gets me in the mood to listen to the rest of the album even though a lot of the other songs are more calculated in their verse-chorus structure. Mix Tape is iconic in its cheesiness (again, unless it's based on The Perks of Being a Wallflower. That makes it pretty rad), but I like that The Shower Scene lets itself go the whole time whereas Mix Tape just does that in the outro. In The Shower Scene, Jesse is just quickly screaming a sprawling journal entry and it kicks ass.

Jude Law and a Semester Abroad vs. Seventy Times 7
- This is sort of the opposite case of the previous matchup, where I prefer the more conventional song over the chaotic one (I'm thinking of the verses to Seventy Times 7). Both songs are similar lyrically, and when you really consider what he's saying, they're both uncomfortable. It's like on Pinkerton when Rivers talks about the Japanese girl touching herself; it's offputting, but I think the feelings are exaggerated for dramatic effect, and when just thought of as a ridiculous fantasy that absolutely shouldn't be taken literally or even seriously, I think both songs are respectable. All that said, I like Jude Law better just because melodically the whole song is more appealing to me, and I think it has a lot of clever lines that, again, shouldn't be taken as anything other than a farce ("And if you ever said you missed me then don't say you never lied"). Also, I think I like that the sort of twisted lines are said quickly, almost like an immediate thought, whereas in Seventy Times 7, the bridge where he really digs in lyrically is given so much attention musically. But I don't know, that's my favourite part of the song, so I'm not really sure how I feel. Both songs have great closing lines though ("No more songs about you, after this one I am done you are gone" and "I can't let you let me down again. AUAUHGH".)

Failure by Design vs. Secondary
- This choice is really easy for me. Failure by Design is one of a kind on the album: a catchy, meta song about the pressure from the label to write a catchy song. I think it's kind of brilliant actually. "This time I've got nothing to say besdies do do do do do do..." Really clever. Secondary is fun, but there's nothing significant about it, except for maybe the four-beat break before the second verse. It's catchy and the lyrics are well-written, but they're not tackling anything new or anything we've heard before in an interesting way. Maybe the album's best inclusion of the title in the song though.

Last Chance to Lose Your Keys vs. Sudden Death in Carolina
- This is the only matchup where I had to relisten to both songs because I wasn't sure. I like both of these songs just fine and I didn't have an immediate preference. Going in, I thought I'd pick Last Chance because I play it on guitar more often and it's more memorable to me, probably because of the overlapping lines in the final chorus (that's my shit), but while I was writing the first half of this sentence and listening to Sudden Death, I was enjoying it so much that I thought I might pick that one. Now I'm listening to Last Chance and I think I like it more. It's hard to not pick the song where Jesse "wakes up with a shiner" but Last Chance is so bubbly and humbly defiant that I can't not have a fat one for it. Sudden Death is probably the most similar to The Shower Scene for me, with its implicitly angry vocal delivery, and I think the hushed bridge is really neat, but Jesse is being self-deprecating and backing up into a corner while still placing the blame on someone else and that's kind of unflattering. In Last Chance, he's standing up for himself and he's not threatening murder, so that's cool. It's an innocent song about trying to move on in a mature way and I respect that. Last Chance to Lose Your Keys it is.

 

Not only do I like your user name I like your descriptive post.

 

i'll probably do why i picked certain songs when i like the songs more. and the only one that wasn't an obvious choice for me was Sudden Death vs Last Chance and I talked about that one a bit

actually Failure by Design wasn't obvious to cut bc listening back I like the lead guitar a lot aaaand I did almost pick the Shower Scene so hm maybe there's more to say than I thought

 

I give better commentary when we're down to fewer options

 

True... It's easier to dig in then.

As well, I don't think I'll need to explain why I won't be voting for Magazines haha

 

Some of their best harmonies on the record are in that song.

Some of their creepiest lyrics too.

 

Seatbelt
Shower
Jude
Failure
Keys

 

Girl, you've got my hand shaking

 

Soco Amaretto Lime
Mix Tape
Jude Law And A Semester Abroad
Failure By Design
Last Chance

Got a feeling this is gonna get fugly.

 

Broken down in my dead best
Stuttering to pictures of you

 

If it does...

 

Haha, the match ups for the first round were crazy. Is what it is though, I figure either way it has to come down to one. Wouldn't be surprised if Soco takes this album.