Record Roulette: Your Favorite Weapon
Disclaimer: Jesse Lacey has been accused of sexual misconduct on multiple occasions. UNHNGD does not condone his behavior nor support him as a person. This is merely a discussion about a piece of art he contributed to as an adolescent. Art vs. Artist is a topic we will be discussing in-depth later, but for now, I encourage you to focus on the music and not the person behind the microphone.
Most importantly, if you or a loved one have experienced sexual assault, help is available. Resources
Record Roulette: Your Favorite Weapon
Oh, to be sixteen again. Keeping with the theme of last week's Record Roulette, we're going to channel our inner teenage angst today with Brand New's 2001 debut album, Your Favorite Weapon.
Source: Apple Music
If you were ever engrossed in the pop/emo-punk wave of the early 2000s, you know exactly what record I'm talking about. YFW was my go-to album senior year of high school; skipping out on my last class of the day to drive to my sh*tty restaurant job, blasting "Mix Tape" and downing a Red Bull. That very same restaurant is where I first heard YFW, the chef at the time telling me, “Brand New’s first album is some of the best music you’ll ever hear.” She was sweet, but she also had “C*nt” tattooed on the inside of her lip, so take that for what you will.
Brand New was formed on Long Island, NY, by Jesse Lacey, Vincent Accardi, Garrett Tierney, and Brian Lane in 2000. Each member would eventually band-hop and embark on various musical projects in later years, but YFW was the beginning of it all. Produced by friend Mike Sapone, the album featured what AllMusic calls a "semi-hit" and their first single, "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad." Since I discovered YFW a decade and a half after its release, I was surprised to learn that that song was the sole single. I love every track on the album, but I think some of them had more potential to be hits.
It's also worth mentioning that Your Favorite Weapon is a wildly different sound than anything Brand New has since produced. Deja Entendu and The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me fall into the same emo/punk category but are more melodic and mature. It's almost as if their debut was Brand New’s prelude; a love letter to the death of their teen years before the band collectively grew to be the musicians they are today.
While "Sudden Death In Carolina" is my all-time favorite, "Failure by Design" comes in second place purely because of the concept. The entire song is about having writer's block and trying to record on a deadline, which is the kind of irony I appreciate in an otherwise emotionally intense album. I actually have “Your Favorite Weapon” tattooed on the back of my leg- at times, I think it's the worst ink I've ever gotten, but I always manage to come back around. It reminds me not to lose that spark of rebellion I somehow developed growing up in the gentle suburbs of Upstate New York.
This record is profoundly bitter and not for the faint of heart, especially "Seventy Times 7" ("have another drink and drive yourself home…"), so don't play this one in front of your parents. YFW is best enjoyed in its entirety, preferably while driving around your hometown, reminiscing on that sh*tty restaurant you worked at when you were 17.
Listen to Your Favorite Weapon on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, or SoundCloud