Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me

This album is fucking phenomenal, and I suppose it descends from records like Sultans Of Sentiment in that it's at this crossover point where it's definitely coming from a scene but isn't just an example of that particular sound. There's something unbelievably emo about it, but it's done so stylishly, so subtle, so cool. The Devil And God… is an immense statement of what a band can sound like, emotions totally set free and without any fear of what are often big 'rock' gestures. There's such an atmosphere to this album, all the sounds are incredible and in some ways it's the raging counterpart to For Emma…, recorded in the woods, with an intensity that comes from seclusion and being totally immersed in this world you've created. It's the sort of album that can't help but have changed the band who made it, you couldn't live in that space without ending up with it living in you. That's fearless, to make something that's so intense and closely held that it might alter you forever. A lot of times in that emo world, the songs just don't stand up: it's just loads of feeling over a mundane chord progression. But here, you've got songs like 'Millstone'. Some mornings you wake up and you just want some aggressive hardcore music, and I could listen to that if I was in the happiest mood in the world and it would still make me want to cry my eyes out.