Brand New

Brand New

Brand New is an American alternative rock band from Merrick, New York, active from 2000 to the present. The group includes Jesse Lacey, Vincent Accardi, Garrett Tierney, Brian Lane and Derrick Sherman. Its sound is associated with alternative punk, alternative rock, art rock, emo, indie rock and noise rock.

Formation and early years

The band forms in Merrick in 2000, after Jesse Lacey, Garrett Tierney and Brian Lane rehearse again following their earlier time together in the post-hardcore group The Rookie Lot. Vincent Accardi joins after playing in One Last Goodbye. The members come out of the Long Island independent and hardcore scenes and draw on a wide range of influences. Brand New plays early shows with bands such as Midtown and Glassjaw, and self-releases a four-song demo before signing to Triple Crown Records after its second show.

Early albums and wider recognition

The debut album Your Favorite Weapon is produced by Mike Sapone and becomes a moderate success, selling more than 50,000 copies. Its only single, “Jude Law and a Semester Abroad,” receives airplay on MTV2 and Fuse. The follow-up, Deja Entendu, appears in 2003 through Razor & Tie/Triple Crown Records and marks a clear change in sound from the first record. It debuts at number 63 on the Billboard 200 and later is certified gold in the United States. The singles “The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows” and “Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades” both enter the UK Singles Chart top 40, and the band gains mainstream exposure through television appearances and extensive touring. Brand New tours with acts including Taking Back Sunday, Finch, New Found Glory, Good Charlotte, Dashboard Confessional and Blink-182, and headlines The Bamboozle with My Chemical Romance, Alkaline Trio, Thrice, The Starting Line, Fall Out Boy, The Bouncing Souls, Straylight Run and Flogging Molly.

Major-label period and self-run label

After signing with DreamWorks, later taken over by Interscope Records, Brand New records The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me in Mississippi with producer Dennis Herring before switching back to Mike Sapone. The album is preceded by leaked demos, and the band tours widely after its release, including headline slots at Give It A Name and The Bamboozle, plus dates in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In 2008 the band starts its own label, Procrastinate! Music Traitors, which first signs Kevin Devine and issues a reissue of Put Your Ghost to Rest.

Daisy and later work

Daisy follows in 2009 on Interscope and debuts at number six on the Billboard 200. On this record, Vincent Accardi takes a larger role in songwriting, with Jesse Lacey stepping back from that part of the process. By 2010 the band is no longer signed to Interscope. In 2014 Brand New enters the studio for a fifth album. The song “Mene” appears in 2015, followed by the album-cycle releases 3 Demos, Reworked and “I Am a Nightmare” in 2016. The fifth album, Science Fiction, is made available in 2017 and reaches number one on the Billboard 200.

Line-up and associated activity

The band’s listed members are Jesse Lacey, Vincent Accardi, Garrett Tierney, Brian Lane and Derrick Sherman. Vincent Accardi later begins a solo project called Dear Orca.