Deja Entendu [by Brand New, CD, 2003]

While anything but novel, the follow-up to Brand New's emo-punk-blast debut <I>Your Favorite Weapon</I> features unexpected touches and wisps of maturity. <I>YFW</I> was all about the rage and mise... more

While anything but novel, the follow-up to Brand New's emo-punk-blast debut <I>Your Favorite Weapon</I> features unexpected touches and wisps of maturity. <I>YFW</I> was all about the rage and misery of young, explosive love, presented with Weezer-like hooks. <I>Deja Entendu</I> isn’t really over it yet; lead singer Jesse Lacey still sounds damaged and full of self-loathing on mopey, post-Smiths pop like "The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot." But amidst the Jimmy Eat World choruses are experiments with sudden dynamic shifts and style (like Lacey channeling Adam Duritz for "Play Crack The Sky"), along with ruminations about the misery of cancer ("Guernica"). If <I>Deja Entendu</I> sounds like the work of musicians discovering their talents, it's also about learning that desperate heartache isn't just about girls who don’t call back. <I>--Matthew Cooke</I> less