This week’s pick is “Science Fiction” by Brand New. This album is a career ending album, not because it is a bad album, but because the band decided it would be their last. I think it is a great thing when a good band knows when to call it quits. Many people think that the Beatles were the best band ever (I am not among those people), but they were only around for a short while. I am not saying that calling it quits is the best for every band, but rather that it is context dependent. The Grateful Dead are my favourite band, and they were around for 30 years.
Brand New is an interesting band, because they came out of an era of short-lived bands and one-hit-wonders (the early 2000’s emo scene). They came out with a great, but within genre album (Deja Entendu), and then surprised the world with a deep and mature album (The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me). I really liked these albums, did not care much for Daisy, and did not really listen to Science Fiction much.
I recently got into playing Magic: The Gathering and learned what “mana” is. I then remembered that there is a song called “Out of Mana” on this album. So, I went back and gave this a proper listen. I was pretty blown away. The opening track has a great bass line, that just rips. Then, the second song has a great whistling bit, and some nice chord progressions. This album channels Talk Talk, heavily. There are a couple other nice moments, but the album closer is probably the best end to a band’s final album that one could ask for. ‘Batter Up’ is eerie, and thought-provoking, and the guitar just lifts you up and away.
This is probably not the best album for you if you are struggling in January. The lyrics are a bit bleak. However, the music is good, and the guitar goes hard.
Stay warm,
Ev
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