Brand New/Manch Orch | 10.16 | CA
By Team JamBase Oct 21, 2009 • 9:55 pm PDT

Brand New/Manchester Orchestra/The Builders and the Butchers
10.16.09 :: San Jose Events Center Arena :: San Jose, CA
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It’s not as if the evening had been light on emotion prior to the headliner’s arrival. Brand New had a smartly picked lineup with them on the fall tour surrounding their new album, Daisy (released September 22 on Interscope), which managed to resonate on a similar frequency without stepping on each other’s toes sonically. First up were The Builders and the Butchers, who delivered energetic, thick music with a rattling folk foundation. If the Violent Femmes ever took their tongue out of their cheeks they might sound like this. The shifting instrumentation encompassed trumpet, mandolin, banjo, and more traditional electric rock bits, all delivered atop an oversized percussion kit shared by two drummers sitting close to one another, and their handclapping energy and eager audience outreach were vaguely reminiscent of Akron/Family. There’s a pleasantly ragged roots churn to The Builders, and when they’re belting out boatman chants or banging the strings like a badly abused hammered dulcimer it’s pretty hard to resist. Nice first impression to be sure.
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Manchester’s second studio release, Mean Everything To Nothing, has proven one of 2009’s sneaky growers, a little better every time you slip it on. As good as the studio work is, there’s a nervy, thumping transformation to the songs live, some chemical reaction that releases the howl inside them. There’s the whomp of metal married to melodic rock and a lyrical bent that’s intellectual and sometimes funny. Most, even those unfamiliar with the band, got caught up in their energy and sang along to swell refrains like, “I have friends in all the right places!” Closer “The River,” which also wraps the new album, was truly cathartic, a statement of purpose (“I sing about most everything”) surrounded by a moving, beautiful racket punctuated by punchy drums, where the whole of it reminded me of The Who in their vintage glory.
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Opening with two standouts from The Devil and God was a good move, along with easing into the new material mid-set. Daisy is both harder and softer than its predecessor, though their songwriting, production, and overall playing continues to mature apace. There’s a touch more beauty inside all the angst and cogitation now, which further points to a promising future. They don’t seem locked into any one thing, despite labels like emo, indie, etc. that have been attached since they started. However, there’s a good deal of scream-singing and the general über-intensity can get to be a bit much after a while. In concert, it creates a general state of agitation tempered by well placed soothing intros and spacey breaks. It’s not much of a stretch to see both a young Rush fan and a young Green Day fan finding much to love in Brand New.
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Their stage set is simple, a few rear projected films late in the show, but mainly it was an all black stage with boys in black making music bolstered by non-flashy, intelligently crafted lighting. Where one number had sharp lances of white light creating geometric lines around the shadowy figures pummeling their instruments, another was warmed by the amber glow of fake candelabra flames. Each choice was appropriate and helped stir the drama inherent to Brand New’s sound.
As mentioned, Jesse Lacey’s lead vocals are an acquired taste. Like metal’s strep throat rumble, Lacey’s screechy spikes and flailing cries can grate if you’re not up for them. However, he’s really just a gifted singer who is all over the place. He can carry a tune fine and his scream is mighty, but kid also yodels, croons, and even gets a little soulful at times. He’s unique but everything about the music and words he’s engaging with work with interlocking logic. A love song for Brand New declares, “Take me back to your bed/ I love you so much it hurts my head.” Everything about them is a conversation between intimacy and disconnection, claustrophobic closeness and breathy wide-open spaces, and how those aren’t necessarily opposites.
Hunched over their instruments, trying to pry loose something more, something that makes the whole goddamn mess make sense, Brand New is a true powerhouse sitting at the center of the generation just matriculating into adulthood. It’s likely that we will be talking about them for years to come, and their influence will be one cited by many bands forming in their wake. As modern American society continues to shake with profound changes of nearly every sort, Brand New is a worthy soundtrack to this upheaval that understands something about how human beings survive in such times. And they put on a mighty fine show, too.
Brand New :: 10.16.09 :: San Jose Events Center Arena :: San Jose, CA
You Won’t Know, Degausser, Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don’t, Sic Transit Gloria… Glory Fades, Jaws Theme Swimming, The No Seatbelt Song, Vices, Gasoline, Sowing Season, You Stole, In A Jar, Luca, Archers, Bought A Bride, Jesus Christ, At The Bottom, Play Crack The Sky
Brand New is on tour now; dates available here.
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