After 16 years spent crafting some of the most interesting and thematically deep pop and post-punk records of the new millennium, Brand New are ready to close up shop. After teasing a breakup by way of a cryptic tour T-shirt, frontman Jesse Lacey went back and forth in the press about the band’s uncertain future, this before officially declaring the Long Island band’s impending end during their current stint playing in support of Modest Mouse. It’s a tough pill to swallow, especially for fans who cling on to the kind of personal, philosophical songwriting that Lacey and company have slowly mastered for the past decade and a half. But maybe we should have seen the writing on the wall a little sooner.
Brand New have been in somewhat of a reflexive place in the past year and change. Late last year, the band released Leaked Demos 2006, a nine-song set featuring alternate versions of four previously-released tracks. Of course, the release of a demos or B-side collection doesn’t necessarily spell the end of a band’s life. Sometimes you just need to do some housekeeping and dust off some old tracks. But knowing what we know now, it’s easy to suspect that Brand New have at least been thinking about bringing things to an end for a while. A final full-length is due to eventually surface, but in the interim the band has busied itself with taking stock of its past. Most recently, that includes the surprise release of 3 Demos, Reworked.
The set features demos originally released as B-sides on Leaked Demos‘ vinyl release, as well as newly recorded versions of those tracks. Two of those reworked tracks, “Missing You” and “1996”, sound like close counterparts to the original demos. “Missing You” is a rousing fit of guitar rock, complete with an Oasis-inspired breakdown (think “Semisonic”), while Lacey busies himself with macabre visions of Van Gogh hacking off his ear. The demo’s synthpop intro breaks up the two versions, but not much else. The band doubles down on its British influences on “1996”, a track with deliberate New Order and Smiths influences. Moody but sweet, Lacey even adopts Morrissey’s legendary croon, as well as his penchant for wry humor. “She was just 17,” he sings. “Pious and petty with a deadly disease, and the weight of the world on her prosthetic shoulder.” Not bad.
“Missing You” and “1996” are solid tracks, but they hedge too close to their original demos, so much so that it raises the question of why they were reworked and packaged together at all. On the other hand, both versions of “Brother’s Song” (eventually released as the standalone single “Brothers”) present an interesting and effective yin and yang, with the new version filling out the original demo written and performed by Lacey alone with an acoustic guitar. Both versions are aching, crumbling beauties. The rerecorded version is fraught with tension, but the band makes the delicate, war-torn song stir with emotive power. Conversely, Lacey’s lonesome demo shows how much teeth the track has when pared down to its skeleton.
In the end, 3 Demos, Reworked could use some more of that contrast to allow each of the six tracks to stand up more on their own. But these are good songs, and they might be all fans will have to subsist on until the band’s inevitable swan song is finally delivered. With the sand slowly running through the Brand New hourglass, it’s worth savoring what’s available. 3 Demos, Reworked might be a bit on the slight side of things, but like its predecessor, it’s a worthwhile look back on the band’s earlier years.
Essential Tracks: “Brother’s Song”, “Brother’s Song (Demo 2006)”
