Brand New: Encyclopedia II - Brand New - History

Brand New - History

In the late 1990s Jesse Lacey, Garrett Tierney and Brian Lane were all members of The Rookie Lot, a Post-Hardcore band largely influenced by groups like Lifetime, along with guitarists Alex Dunne and Brandon Reilly, the latter of the two who would later be a member of the band The Movielife.

After The Rookie Lot disbanded, Lacey and Lane started playing together again with Tierney joining them soon after. Then Vinnie Accardi joined, completing the band's current line-up. "Vinnie" usually goes by the name of "Vin". After recording, producing, and releasing their first four-track demo, the band began rigorously touring around the Long Island scene. Soon enough the band found themselves playing with bands such as Midtown, Good Charlotte, New Found Glory, and Glassjaw. Brand New played a short stint on the Warped Tour in 2003^[1]. Also in 2003, the band toured with Hot Rod Circuit and Eisley. They have also toured with Dashboard Confessional, Incubus and Finch and blink-182, supporting Blink 182 on one of their tours through Australia in 2004.

Lacey and John Nolan, formerly of Taking Back Sunday and presently of Straylight Run, are well known to have been good friends since childhood, as they both grew up and contributed to the Long Island music scene. The two often tour together, and are noted for their sometimes similar songwriting styles. Brand New have previously toured with both of Nolan's bands and have performed songs together - previously combining songs from Deja Entendu with Straylight Run's self-titled debut album on a joint tour.

Between May 2004 (with the release of the UK Quiet Things That No-One Ever Knows CDS B-Sides) and June 2005, no new material was released by the Brand New and no new information was publicly released to fans. During that time however, the band was signed by Interscope Records, a major label.

In June 2005, Brand New launched a new official website which they promised to update more often and announced they had been recording, and additionally confirmed rumours that Lacey has been "sick", "had surgery", and that there "were multiple things wrong with [him]" but stated that "most of [his problems] have been fixed". In early 2005, Lacey was admitted to the hospital where upon it was learned that he had appendicitis and had surgery to remove his appendix before any further trouble could occur.

As of September 17th 2005, Brand New have relocated to the Oxford, Mississippi^[2]. They are in the final leg of writing and recording for their new album, and have teamed up with producer Dennis Herring who has worked with such artists as Elvis Costello. His studio, Sweet Tea, is a house/recording studio filled with vintage instruments and recording equipment. Their next album is expected to be released sometime in 2006.

Brand New - Members

The band members are:

• Jesse Lacey (lead vocals, lyricist, rhythm guitar and piano)
• Vincent "Vin/Vinnie" Accardi (lead guitar and backup vocals)
• Garrett Tierney (bass)
• Brian Lane (drums)

Brand New - Your Favorite Weapon

In 2001, Brand New released their debut, Your Favorite Weapon which was notable for its catchy pop punk sound combined with lyrics above their peers. The debut consisted of songs previously released on the band's demos (which were formerly available for free on their site) combined with several other songs. The album received a surprising amount of mainstream success, and allowed the band to tour internationally, serving as the inspiration of many of the songs on their followup album. The first single released from Your Favorite Weapon was "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad," which received significant airplay. Mike Sapone was the producer of this album.^[3]

Soon after the release of Your Favorite Weapon, they released two songs on a split EP with Safety In Numbers. Moshi Moshi from this EP was also available as a B-Side on the UK Jude Law single.

Brand New - Deja Entendu

2001's Your Favorite Weapon was followed with Deja Entendu in June, 2003 on Triple Crown Records to much critical acclaim. The album is a departure from their debut, toning down their previous pop-punk sensibilities into mostly slower, deeper, darker songs with more complex lyrics about a wide range of topics including lung cancer and sex. The album also showed an improvement in the band's musical talents, which showed significant development since their first album. The title of that album is French for "Already Heard", a comment on how the band believes that modern music sounds the same.

The album was produced by Steven Haigler, who is best known for being sound engineer on the Pixies' Trompe le Monde^[4].

Two singles were released from this album on Eat Sleep Records and Sorepoint Records. The first single from Deja Entendu was The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows. Their second single from the album, Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades, is a shortened version of the papal term Sic transit gloria mundi and could quite possibly be derived from the quote in the film Rushmore. Both singles were top 40 hits within the UK.

A limited edition EP, entitled The Holiday EP, was also later released in 2003, available only to the band's Street Team members. Additionally, during 2003 their debut album was remastered and rereleased.

Brand New - New Album

The band is currently working on their highly anticipated third album in Oxford, Mississippi. On January 24, 2006 several demos from this album were leaked onto the internet, each without titles and of unknown origin, only with the comment they were "unlikely to appear on Fight Off Your Demons".

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki