Your Favorite Weapon

This week take a listen to a band from the Long Island scene, Brand New. Formed in 2000, by bassist and drummer Garrett Tierney and Brian Lane from the ashes of Rookie Lot. The band consists of Jesse Lacey (vocals, guitar), Vincent Accardi (guitar, vocals), Garrett Tierney (bass guitar, vocals), and Brian Lane (drums, percussion). The band is recognized as one of the most influential within the 2000s emo scene, celebrated for making artistic statements with their music. When asked about his influences, lead singer Jesse Lacey referenced Lifetime, Foo Fighters, The Cars, and The Smiths. The band would listen to several bands while in their van, such as Saves the Day, Modest Mouse, and Green Day, among others.

For this episode, we listen to Your Favorite Weapon, their debut studio album. The album was released on October 9, 2001. All of the songs on the album were written, within the band's teenage years with some songs being written two or three years before the record came out.

This album was heavily influenced by a feud between Lacey and Taking Back Sunday guitarist John Nolan, specifically "Seventy Times Seven". Nolan wrote about the feud from his point of view in Taking Back Sunday's "There's No 'I' in Team". The name of the song is a reference to a Bible passage, specifically Matthew 18:22. Your Favorite Weapon was produced by a friend of the band. The whole album was re-recorded when the original recording was lost on a computer's hard drive.

Check out the music video for "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad" here!