The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me

Untitled

The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me is the third full length album by the alternative rock band Brand New, and their major label debut on Interscope Records. It was released on November 20, 2006 in the United Kingdom, on November 21, 2006 in the United States and Canada, November 25, 2006 in Australia and on January 12, 2007 in mainland Europe. The album debuted at number 31 on the Billboard 200. Two singles from the album were released — "Sowing Season" on November 21, 2006 and "Jesus Christ" on April 30, 2007.

Production

History

In late 2005, Brand New started recording their third studio album in Oxford, Mississippi with producer Dennis Herring, but later dropped him in favor of Mike Sapone with whom they had worked on their first album.

On January 24, 2006, nine untitled demos for the album leaked onto the Internet. The band was disappointed to hear of the leak, however they performed the demos at live shows. In an interview with the band the question was asked, "Did the Internet leak of your demos affect the progress of the new album?" The responses were as follows:

If it affected anything, I would say it did it in a good way 'cause so many people were curious to hear what we have been doing--and for the most part, the record tracks don't sound anything like the leaked demos.

— Garrett Tierney

For me it was different. It had me pretty down for a while. No one likes to show their creation in mid-process, and those songs weren't done. They were like blueprints. Just the plan, right? It put me in a state where I was under the impression that those songs had been wasted or something--that we had to go and write new things because those had been heard. Now, in retrospect, I want those songs to be on the album and many of them aren't, and I'm probably more to blame for that than anyone. This record already feels incomplete to me without those tracks and probably will forever.

— Jesse Lacey

I can relate to both of those sentiments. In one way it was kind of refreshing and motivating to know that people were still so interested and curious as to what we were up to in that period where we sort of disappeared. But I was also worried that it would derail the process because the four of us had created a pretty safe place where the only critics were ourselves. As much as we tried to shield ourselves from letting the leak affect us, it definitely did. There was a feeling of being robbed, after keeping everything so close to ourselves and then having it heard before it was completed. As Jesse said, I wish some of those songs were on the record. But they do exist on a certain plane, so people do know that we were working and creating.

— Vincent "Vin" Accardi

Music and lyrical content

Two songs that appeared on the final version of the album were reworked versions of demo tracks. "Sowing Season" was reworked from the song "Untitled 08 (Yeah)," and "Luca" was reworked from the song "Untitled 06 (Mamas)." Additionally, the UK CD's bonus track "Luca" (Reprisal Version) is a mastered version of "Untitled 06." It has not been re-recorded, unlike the other version of "Luca" on the album. "Untitled 9" bears a resemblance to "Archers" during the chorus, although no definite correlation has been made. A hidden track can be found in the pregap of the CD by rewinding back one minute and 16 seconds from the start of "Sowing Season". The track consists of overlapped phone conversations, seemingly between Brand New and producer Mike Sapone.

In contrast to the rest of the tracks on the album, where one band member would bring an almost completed song to the rest of the band, "Degausser" and "Sowing Season" were composed spontaneously as a band. Additionally, the music and lyrics for "Handcuffs" and "Welcome To Bangkok" were written by lead guitarist Vincent Accardi. The lyrics to the rest of the tracks from the album were written by Jesse Lacey.

The album's lyrics contains several references to popular culture and literature. The title of the song "Luca" refers to the character Luca Brasi of The Godfather and the song "Welcome To Bangkok" comes from the Jean-Claude Van Damme film Kickboxer, in which Van Damme's arrogant elder brother and American kickboxing champion is soundly beaten and has his back broken to the sound of drums and tambourines. Before the fight the film shows a banner proclaiming "Welcome to Bangkok Stadium", and then several Thai spectators shout at Van Damme "Welcome to Bangkok". In fact, the song's structure is usually accented live with an additional percussionist playing a full drum kit.

The second verse to "Sowing Season" is inspired by the Rudyard Kipling poem "If". The song "Limousine" is about the death of 7-year old Katie Flynn from various perspectives including Martin Heidgen, the driver who killed her. Mike Sapone can be heard at the end of the track. The title of "Sowing Season" is a reference from Stephen King's novel "Secret Window, Secret Garden", where the main character had written a short story of the same title.

Album title and artwork

The name of the album came from a conversation Jesse Lacey had with a friend regarding Daniel Johnston, a musician who suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

The album cover is a picture titled "Untitled #44" from Nicholas Prior's "Age of Man" collection which the band saw at an art show and later used. Unusually, the outside of the cardboard case contains no song listings, and doesn't contain the name of the album or the band name anywhere but on the spine. The record company instead placed stickers on the plastic wrapping to indicate the name of the album and band, and on the UK version to indicate that it had the bonus track.

Reception

The album received generally favorable reviews, and debuted at number 31 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 60,000 copies in its first week.

The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me was rated the best album of 2006 by Punknews.org.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jesse Lacey except for "Sowing Season", written by Lacey and Vincent Accardi, "Degausser", written by Lacey, Accardi, Brian Lane and Garrett Tierney, and "Welcome to Bangkok" and "Handcuffs", written by Accardi

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Sowing Season (Yeah)"	4:31
2.	"Millstone"	4:16
3.	"Jesus Christ"	5:18
4.	"Degausser"	5:32
5.	"Limousine (MS Rebridge)"	7:42
6.	"You Won't Know"	5:42
7.	"Welcome to Bangkok"	3:05
8.	"Not the Sun"	3:09
9.	"Luca"	5:08
10.	"Untitled"	2:04
11.	"Archers"	4:14
12.	"Handcuffs"	4:10

UK bonus track

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Luca - Reprisal Version"	4:02

Some songs were listed differently on the official Brand New website than they were on the CD Inlay. For instance, online, "Sowing Season" was listed as "Sowing Season (Yeah)", "Jesus" is listed as "Jesus Christ", "--" is listed as "Untitled", and "The Archers Bows Have Broken" is listed as "Archers".

Personnel

• Jesse Lacey – vocals, rhythm guitar
• Vincent Accardi – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Garrett Tierney – bass, vocals
• Brian Lane – drums, percussion
• Derrick Sherman – rhythm guitar, vocals
• Arina Yalkowsky – theremin on "Luca"
• Ron Piscitello – percussion
• Brent Arnold – cello on "Handcuffs"
• Margaret White – viola

Album notes

• The album is dedicated to 15 people who died during the recording of the record, who are listed in the booklet: Robert Sherman, Red Lacey, Leo Lacey, Bill and Virginia Sherman, James McAuliffe, Rosemary Kancelerski, Frances Ambrosio, Manfred Cardone III, Sid Rosen, Seymour Lane, Michelle Lane, George Moe, Alexander Lambros, and Omar Ortega.
• The album, when pre-ordered online or bought from selected retailers, came with the limited edition CD single for "Sowing Season", backed with the exclusive b-side "Coca-Cola."
• After a July 30, 2008 solo show, Lacey stated that the absence of a The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me vinyl is due primarily to the band's failure to secure the rights of Nicholas Prior's photograph which is currently the cover for the CD. Lacey continued on saying that after the band either secures the rights, or picks an alternate cover, the album will be released in the vinyl format. Your Favorite Weapon and Deja Entendu will be re-released on vinyl as well, as Lacey hopes this will help fans gather "a real collection."
• "Sowing Season" is one of the songs on the video game Guitar Hero 5.

External links

• Brand New Street Team Interview