Review Summary: We hope that you're celebrating, the people you miss.
Brand New is the kind of band that needs no introduction. Their music speaks for itself, and the acclaim they've received is un-paralleled by many. Simply put, they're one of my favorite bands of all time. Fight Off Your Demons is a collection of demo's recorded prior to what's considered by many to be their best album (The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me) that were originally going to be the next release after their sophomore effort Deja Entendu. However the demo's leaked online so instead of move forward with the material, Brand New scrapped it all and started from scratch then released the demo's after the release of TDAGARIM. As I said earlier, many consider TDAGARIM to be Brand New's best album, as do I. However if this is what we ended up with instead, it wouldn't bug me at all.
With only 9 songs, the demo album shows off just how creative Brand New can be. Untitled 01 starts the album, and is a short acoustic song about a past love vocalist/guitarist Jesse Lacey was involved in, and how he's moved on but is glad everything worked out for said past love. The simple guitar and Jesse's lightly layered voice show off his writing talent alone, and is one of the best songs on the album. The next song Morrissey, is a more straight forward rock song. Undeniably catchy, the guitar compliments the bass line well, and Lacey's lyrics are showed off yet again. Untitled 04 is my favorite song off the album. Starting off slow with an odd sounding electronic drum beat and Jesse singing over it, it morphs into a moderate rock song by the chorus. The chorus is extremely catchy and is bound to be stuck in your head for days at a time. The album also features 2 songs that are also on TDAGARIM; Luca, and Sowing Season (titled Yeah on this album). Both are completely acoustic demo's. I think Sowing Season is better served electric, I find the demo version of Luca better than the one we had on TDAGARIM. Fork and Knife is easily the most out of place song on the album, driven by piano, drums, and singing. Out of place however doesn't equate negative in this case. The song is one of the best Brand New songs, period. This is experimentation at it's best, and Brand New plain nailed it. The final song is The Edge Takes Over For Vin, and is also a highlight. Starting with a driving bass line and Lacey's vocals, it (like Untitled 04) morphs into a moderate rock song when the chorus comes in. The chorus here is also insanely catchy, and serves as a fitting finish to the album.
Fight Off Your Demons is sometimes overlooked by Brand New fans, and I don't see why. This collection of songs is absolutely fantastic, and while it is just a collection of demo's with no real flow to make it feel like a true album I'd put it up with any of the bands studio albums.
Best songs: Untitled 01, Untitled 04, The Edge Takes Over For Vin, Fork and Knife.
