Fans have been clamoring to make this pun for eight years, but there’s finally a brand new Brand New album. After years of promises, delays, silences and a self-imposed deadline to disband by 2018, it felt unlikely a new album would ever appear. This swiftly changed with a 24-hour flurry of activity when limited-edition vinyl pre-orders went up online. The next day, those lucky few who pre-ordered received a plain disc in the mail with a single 62-minute track. Streams went up on Facebook. Hours later, the entire thing was online for digital purchase. Brand New had silently dropped “Science Fiction,” their bombshell of a potential career-ender, over the course of a single day.
It won’t surprise listeners that the sound of “Science Fiction” is rooted in the band’s past. Depending on who you ask, this band has released arguably two or three classics, between the emo “Deja Entendu,” the post-hardcore “The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me,” the brash and experimental “Daisy” or even the youthful pop-punk debut “Your Favorite Weapon.” Each of their past four albums have had a unique sound, and “Science Fiction” brings them all together while still cultivating an identity of its own.
Tracks like “Can’t Get It Out” and “No Control” echo the emo anthems from “Deja Entendu,” while “Same Logic / Teeth” carries the dynamics and vicious screams from “The Devil and God.” Elsewhere, although the album never gets as intense as opener “Vices” off of “Daisy,” “Science Fiction” is a logical progression from its predecessor’s quieter moments. The album is bookended by “Lit Me Up” and “Batter Up,” which echo 2009’s slow-burning “You Stole.” If all that wasn’t enough, the album is littered with lyrical references to Brand New’s discography, including the reuse of a sample of a preacher from “Daisy.”
That’s not to say “Science Fiction” has no unique or new sounds of its own. The album is pieced together with snippets of dialogue which call to mind the horrors of science fiction as a genre, but are all rooted in some form of psychological drama to make it all the more chilling. This theme of struggling with inner demons is certainly nothing new for the band — they literally wrote “The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me” — and “Science Fiction” finds lyricist Jesse Lacey removed from his religious struggles in the past and fixated on the trauma of the mind. “But I guess that’s just depression / No sense in fighting it now” he laments in “Can’t Get It Out,” before struggling back with “Not just a manic depressive / Toting around my own cloud / I’ve got a positive message / Sometimes I can’t get it out.”
“Same Logic / Teeth” delves further into topics of depression, using self-mutilation as a metaphor for what goes wrong when trying to fix yourself — “But you’re no tailor, you’re no surgeon, none of your cuts go very straight / … / And when you glued them back together you found out you did it wrong.” This honesty laid bare is a stark contrast from “The Devil and God” and “Daisy,” which explored similar themes but wrapped them in abstract shrouds of metaphor and obscurity. “Science Fiction” is Lacey opening himself up, which is unusual for a band known for their silence and privacy.
Instrumentally, “Science Fiction” showcases the band at its peak. Each song is meticulously crafted to keep things varied both between and within tracks, with no two songs ever sounding the same. The real stars are the guitars — whenever they’re brought to the forefront, it’s always quick and tasteful, but not without some serious shredding. Solos in “137,” “Out of Mana” and “451” demand air guitars on first listen.
The band also brings in some new flavorful styles, most notably with the bare country twang of “Desert” and dirty blues rock in “451.” Lacey’s vocal style compliments the music perfectly as he restrains himself mostly to subdued singing but occasionally revives the vicious shouts and screams that were so storied on past albums. The only disappointing track musically is “No Control,” which is a low-risk emo affair for the first three minutes. Even then, the band makes up for it with a rocking coda which leaves room for live jam sessions during Brand New’s upcoming — and maybe final — year of touring.
It’s difficult to come to terms with the fact that this could be the final Brand New album. Their fanbase is practically a cult at this point, with many fiercely devoted to the group for getting them through some tough times. If this is finally the end, “Science Fiction” is the perfect swan song to a storied career. Fans can rest easy knowing Brand New has done nothing to tarnish its reputation, but has rather solidified its position as one of the most important alternative rock bands in the last two decades.
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