Laugh all you want, but I am an adult woman, and I genuinely like Brand New. Even the first album with the song about wishing the singer of Taking Back Sunday would
crash his car and fly through the windshield. So hell yes, I am excited to see that the Long Island pop-punk/emo/screamo/experimental/Modest Mouse-obsessed band will be playing the Ryman with Manchester Orchestra on Sunday, Oct. 11.
After the release of their 2009 record Daisy, there was speculation that Brand New would call it quits. That speculation has followed them throughout the entirety of their career, in fact. The band has always had periods of hibernation — they've popped in and out of our lives like a Morrissey-loving Whac-A-Mole game, giving us sad songs, playing fantastic shows and then scurrying away into a hole. As soon as they announce something, getting hopes up, they disappear again, either cancelling shows or scrapping albums. Their artistic process seems more tumultuous than streamlined, which is perhaps the necessary fuel to that frustration they express so well in their songs. They always appeared to be more thoughtful, more genuinely dedicated to crafting interesting songs than screamo peers like My Chemical Romance, The Used and whoever else they sadly were lumped in with in the early and mid-2000s.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow, May 14, at noon. They are $45 after service charges. Their new song, "Mene," is posted above.
