Review Summary: Those days are dead.
Evolution is a process which takes a millennia, something which obviously brought us to being the scourge we are today, a collection of wrong turns and mistakes made collectively, Daisy is a testament to this, a disgustingly beautiful album, darker, more biting and harsher than any of Brand New's previous works were.
From 'Your Favorite Weapon', we had a group of hopelessly romantic teens, looking for their place in the world, naturally moving on to the bleak 'Deja Entendu', a reckless deconstructing of music as a whole, jarring and voyeuristic, perverted at times. On came 'The Devil and God Are Raging Inside of Me', an unexpectedly beautiful album, delving deeper into the emotions and depression of Jesse Lacey and co. it was a milestone for the band, and music in general, it was one of the most revealing and distraught albums of the decade, reeking with shadow and showing for the first time, schizophrenic changes in tone throughout songs and lyrics, all before descending into anonymity again.
And along came Daisy, a year before I began listening to Brand New regularly. At first I didn’t know what to believe with this album, it showed traces of despair otherwise unheard of with this band, it wasn’t bleak, it was hateful, it was focused anger, and it was that which made me fall in love with it. Every damaged teen has heard ‘The Quiet Things That No-One Ever Knows’” chorus, and it became an anthem for the emo society, something they could finally grasp onto, something they could use to keep their feet on the ground, Deja Entendu became a symbol for these people, but as they grew, so did Brand New, and Daisy was a level of maturity that came with such swiftness and thunder which divided the fanbase in two.
As I write this, I may notice this is not a review per se, but more of a letter of appreciation to something which has changed my life, Daisy is a constant in my life, alongside the Devil and God, they are constantly being played, day in, day out, and monotony never sets in, whether it be the opening notes of Jesus Christ or the diminished notes and tortured screams of Jesse in Vices, this album has helped shape my personality, even my choices in life, it has helped me through some of the toughest times I’ve faced thus far, and will continue to do so for a while longer, so I hope.
