I think they are one the most celebrated cult bands of the last 20 years. This sub is extremely good evidence of that. More active than bigger and currently active bands.
The band was never gonna be pink Floyd. The music is mostly way too abrasive and introspective for the mainstream.
"Mainstream" will change over the years. Millennials and Gen Z are huge fans of pop punk. Once the other generations are no longer relevant, our music will become "classic." I'm in my 30s and I'm already hearing some of my teen favorites on classic radio stations.
I guess I was basing my argument over the experience of a show and not necessarily the success level. I went to an El Monstero concert a few years back (very good and legit Pink Floyd cover band) and it was much of the same vibe I got out of any Brand New show. Wishful thinking at best, but would have been awesome to see someone carry the torch
They’re one of the biggest alt rock bands of their era and still have a huge fan base. They were never going to be on the level of Pink Floyd or Nirvana and I’m fine with that.
Pink Floyd? OP is delusional. Brand New was not playing arenas and getting constant radio airplay. Very few rock bands in the last 20 years have reached that level.
It doesn’t matter big brain 5199! The success level of Pink Floyd in the 70’s would have matched Brand New in the 2000’s if they didn’t have pop/rap/techno music to compete with. It’s gotten worse. Name a band today who could currently compete with Brand New’s sucesss. Because there’s a bajillion genres right now and no one can agree on what good music is
Current bands that play bigger venues and are bigger than Brand New ever was. Just off the top of my head
Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Incubus, Deftones, Imagine Dragons, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead, Weezer
Yeah, they’re not cult status. Maybe Radiohead and Deftones, but the rest are all commercially well known.
For the record, I’m not saying Brand New was as big as PInk Floyd, but they could have had a similar continuous trajectory after they broke up. Those shows were absolutely phenomenal
And honestly we’ll never know the true potential that Science Fiction would have had. They released one single, and as soon as news broke, that was the end of Brand New on the radio
I feel like they kind of do fill that “one of the greatest underground/cult bands” label. The live shows proved that, incredible crowd participation. They may have played 1 or 2 “hits” but everyone knows every single song and sings it back to the band so loud you almost can’t hear the monitors. I remember going to see them in 2007 and they had 2 dates in our city. Both sold out in under 30 minutes. They were getting no airplay on the radio. I was friends with a local DJ for our rock station who gave me tickets for the 2nd show and she was like “I’ve never seen a band we don’t play who’s in our genre sell out much less sell out in under a half hour.” I told her she needed to check them out beyond Jesus and she did and loves them. But yeah I’d argue they’re definitely one of the greatest cult bands of all time. They played two totally different sets each night and never repeated a song for either show. And everyone knew every song and every lyric. It was incredible.
I dunno man they have a bunch of amazing albums, I grew up on their music, to me it’s very much alive to this day, I think every time I take a drive at least one song always come on, with Failure by Design being number 1 all time for me.
Just keep it relevant to you then! That’s what I do at least, and we have this group which way more people post here than I would have thought of ya know. But I do see your point, every couple months I start looking for merch and cool stuff to buy for some reason and that makes me wish they were still making music 🫠
Dude have you seen a Pink Floyd cover band? El Monstero is totally reminiscent of what a Brand New show looked like. I wasn’t comparing the music, but the aesthetics of a concert. Fucking lasers, the feels, and shit. Doesn’t seem like a far off comparison
If they ever did a show at some point in the future, I would pay any amount of money to see it. I was too young to see them live in the past...I won't have the opportunity for the foreseeable future. Huge bummer.
Idk. They are to me. I think that's most important. As for 'everyone else'? We are being fed this sterile pop culture more so then ever before. It probably isn't going to stop until we turn into the movie Idiocracy. Popularity is now measured by IG followers. I don't see a rock band getting to the level of a Pink Floyd any time soon, as far as the general public is concerned. It was never in Brand New's cards.
On the bright side, you have a whole sub of people that do appreciate Brand New (*gives me flash backs to all the times seeing mix tape live).
Feels fitting to end with this:
They were the greatest band in a century
Lyrics tattooed on your wrist
They were gonna stay together forever
but they couldn't keep up with the kids, and so they called it quits
Now they're gone and you won't get them back
we’ve been fed mainstream music our whole lives and we were fed this band and every band in this genre in the 2000s, and Brand New was definitely a spoon fed band after Deja during that time, wether TRL, FUSE or whatever. I remember watching Brand new play in 2002 Jesse on crutches, either way Science Fiction was the end, they said it themselves we just didn’t get a final tour.
The music is very much studied and cover bands do exist. I believe they absolutely will go in the history books as one of the most influential and important bands. There are so many bands already today that wouldn't exist without them. You're too close to it, as were the kids rushing to the store to snag a copy of "the wall" or "wish you were here." Hell, PF had 7 studio albums before dark side of the moon that many don't even know exist. Give it time (pun intended.) It will come back around and given the status it deserves. I remember that site "is this band emo" called BN the "Radiohead of emo." Urban dictionary used to define Jesse Lacey as "God." Just enjoy the music and wait for the wave. It's coming.
Uhhhhh they can still be studied and, cover bands can certainly still pop up, and they are still a highly revered band. While Pink Floyd was one of the most popular bands of all time while they existed - brand new wasn't even like in the top 10 of their niche genre in terms of popularity. It never was going to go down that path you laid out - I wish it did as they are my favorite band ever.
Meh, maybe. Definitely wishful thinking. If we can agree that the ending stinks that’s good enough for me. I think they’d have a better cover band ratio than more successful bands from that era such as Limp Bizkit
I love brand new, but this is pretty dramatic. I also think it’s better that people holding privilege (like musicians) aren’t able to exploit vulnerable young people and have it condoned and even celebrated like it was in the past.
Led Zepplin bragged about assaulting a “groupie” with a fish in their book, bands would consistently brag about young and numerous their “groupies” were. David Bowie, Jimi page, Jerry Lee Lewis, Steven Tyler-
all “rockstars” that have in the past openly bragged (and been celebrated) for sexually assaulting children.
Were they children or were they groupies? Let’s not inflate the two. Hell, if a woman showed up at my work and flashed her titties in my face I’d probably throw a fish at her too because I can’t fucking concentrate while she does that
You’re disgusting. I specifically put “groupies” in quotes because the examples I utilized (beyond the sexual assault of the woman by a fish) WERE children and that was language used to demean
How about you try to respond to my points now instead of engaging in depersonalizing the issue and making a joke?
Brand New as a project was absolutely perfect in my opinion. I would have loved a reality where BN never stopped, had consistent output, and eventually becomes one of those bands that’s been around long enough for an extensive discography and more style changes/evolutions. But the way the band’s releases went has a perfect development from album to album, and YFW feels like the beginning and SF feels like the ending. It’s like a really good movie, you can love everything in it, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you want them to keep adding scenes or constantly make sequels
Not sure I agree with the Pink Floyd part of the statement lol but yeah, they surely would've been regarded as one of the greatest rock bands of the last decades. However, the only one to blame for this is Jesse unfortunately... It sucks to think about but it's still his fault at the end of the day. He's one of the greatest songwriters ever in my opinion, and one of the reasons why I love music so much, but he still did bad things and it's one of the reasons why the band is no more today. However this shouldn't stop anyone from discovering and enjoying their music (Just like people still enjoy The Smiths and view them as one of the greatest bands ever even though Morrissey is a piece of shit).
You may be the only one that views them like that. They're great, but they are not anywhere close to the popularity (or output) of Pink Floyd or Radiohead.
How many of ya'll have been musicians? I've had this discussion with my old band mates and my wife several times over the years. As the one on stage, it is terrifying to think of a lot of this. From the girl in the crowd perspective, many were doing whatever they could to talk to or get with band guys, from 15 onward. I am very protective of girls and women in general, being raised by my mom and sisters and seeing everything they went through. What a lot of people are missing here is context. It is easy to look down on someone when you were not there, nor did you actually have any idea of what happened. There were two women that came forward after reflecting on the past. I'm sure you've looked back on things and realized it was pretty messed up that you were involved in things. Jesse was in his early 20s and had a 17 yo and 15 yo allegedly saying he groomed them. Did they tell him they were underage? Was he looking for children? Is there any substantive accusations other than the girls and anonymous sources? From all of the "evidence" I've seen, there leaves nothing but questions. Jesse wrote about his demons and has admitted to having many issues over the years which he sought treatment for. His wife is still by his side. There are many shades of grey between black and white. Please stop making comments as "facts" if you actually have no idea what happened yourself.
im just going off the same publically available information you have! whether or not those fans were trying to hook up with jesse doesn't change the substantial point of the allegation, which is that jesse did things which met the criteria for grooming and sexual assault. my point is that \*that\* specifically is why the band doesn't have the legacy it might've - I'm not referring to wider context, music culture etc. simply the facts which the public has and how they're perceived
for what it's worth, the law tends to place responsibility on older people in situations involving an adult and a minor because it recognises the implicit power imbalance and difference in capacity to understand and decide. that's not to say that some of those girls could've possibly tried to misrepresent themselves as adults, but that the legal frameworks we have place a greater responsibility on guys like jesse for what is IMO a good reason.
Here's an article by Pitchfork in which the publication interviewed two complainants who state that he did
Content warning for graphic descriptions of grooming and sexual assault: [https://pitchfork.com/news/two-alleged-victims-of-brand-news-jesse-lacey-detail-years-of-sexual-exploitation-of-minors/](https://pitchfork.com/news/two-alleged-victims-of-brand-news-jesse-lacey-detail-years-of-sexual-exploitation-of-minors/)
To this day the only proof I’ve seen is the fact that they broke up when this all dropped. Don’t know if that’s enough to prove it happened or not. I still love their music, regardless of how divisive that statement may be outside of the sub.
They were already breaking up before all that came out. They had shirts and stuff made with their ending date on it like a year or two before it happened. They didn’t break up because of the allegation (to my knowledge).
It's a tired and drawn out point. A dead horse beaten so often and for so long it is practically dust. Yet, here comes Sknaj, to toss the same pitchfork article we've all seen for years on the table and shout "case solved". I always scroll to the bottom of posts on this sub to find the downvoted dork spouting off the 2017 rhetoric like some sort of angsty time capsule, and congratulations this time it was you!
lol not sure what you mean? i posted the link in response to the user above who asked if jesse did do the things, as a way of supporting my point - citing my sources yknow
not trying to solve any cases. i have all of the same info you do.
the OP of the thread was speculating about the legacy brand new could've had and my original point was that the main thing IMO standing in the way of that legacy was jesse's actions, for which there are several independent allegations.
not sure what point you're making?
The *point* is that your initial comment sought to do none of that, and was a cheeky remark about an old, heavily discussed and tired subject. And to back this up, you posted the same link that has been passed around for years. If you're going to keep the drama alive the least you could do is dive a little deeper. Someone posted a Google doc here once outlining the holes and inconsistencies in the allegations with citations and plenty of evidence, wish I still had it or knew where to find it. I'm not saying that we should all believe it was bullshit but I'm also not advocating for the other end of the spectrum where goobers like you jump straight to saying "he groomed minors". No *allegedly* no *accused of* just straight up yep he did it because these articles said so. Are you even familiar with what the term "allegations" means? What does it mean to "allegedly" do something?
Your logic is dangerous, making such bold statements with no concrete evidence is a slippery slope. Wanna see how flawed it is? Watch this: hey everyone, Sknaj showed up at my house pulled my shirt off and ripped my nipples clean off. I'm now going to tell some journalist about it and because he runs a story, it's true.
And before you cite his "confession" just know I've read it a few times. He admits to having an unhealthy relationship with sex and not being a good faithful partner or decent human. Never once is he like "yep, I love kids!!"
Get real.
I think they are one the most celebrated cult bands of the last 20 years. This sub is extremely good evidence of that. More active than bigger and currently active bands. The band was never gonna be pink Floyd. The music is mostly way too abrasive and introspective for the mainstream.
"Mainstream" will change over the years. Millennials and Gen Z are huge fans of pop punk. Once the other generations are no longer relevant, our music will become "classic." I'm in my 30s and I'm already hearing some of my teen favorites on classic radio stations.
I guess I was basing my argument over the experience of a show and not necessarily the success level. I went to an El Monstero concert a few years back (very good and legit Pink Floyd cover band) and it was much of the same vibe I got out of any Brand New show. Wishful thinking at best, but would have been awesome to see someone carry the torch
They’re one of the biggest alt rock bands of their era and still have a huge fan base. They were never going to be on the level of Pink Floyd or Nirvana and I’m fine with that.
Pink Floyd? OP is delusional. Brand New was not playing arenas and getting constant radio airplay. Very few rock bands in the last 20 years have reached that level.
It doesn’t matter big brain 5199! The success level of Pink Floyd in the 70’s would have matched Brand New in the 2000’s if they didn’t have pop/rap/techno music to compete with. It’s gotten worse. Name a band today who could currently compete with Brand New’s sucesss. Because there’s a bajillion genres right now and no one can agree on what good music is
Current bands that play bigger venues and are bigger than Brand New ever was. Just off the top of my head Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Incubus, Deftones, Imagine Dragons, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead, Weezer
Yeah, they’re not cult status. Maybe Radiohead and Deftones, but the rest are all commercially well known. For the record, I’m not saying Brand New was as big as PInk Floyd, but they could have had a similar continuous trajectory after they broke up. Those shows were absolutely phenomenal And honestly we’ll never know the true potential that Science Fiction would have had. They released one single, and as soon as news broke, that was the end of Brand New on the radio
This is a tad dramatic. Pink Floyd?
I adore Brand New but I mean… Pink Floyd. Come on. They are on another level.
At least we get to keep them to ourselves.
I feel like they kind of do fill that “one of the greatest underground/cult bands” label. The live shows proved that, incredible crowd participation. They may have played 1 or 2 “hits” but everyone knows every single song and sings it back to the band so loud you almost can’t hear the monitors. I remember going to see them in 2007 and they had 2 dates in our city. Both sold out in under 30 minutes. They were getting no airplay on the radio. I was friends with a local DJ for our rock station who gave me tickets for the 2nd show and she was like “I’ve never seen a band we don’t play who’s in our genre sell out much less sell out in under a half hour.” I told her she needed to check them out beyond Jesus and she did and loves them. But yeah I’d argue they’re definitely one of the greatest cult bands of all time. They played two totally different sets each night and never repeated a song for either show. And everyone knew every song and every lyric. It was incredible.
This
I dunno man they have a bunch of amazing albums, I grew up on their music, to me it’s very much alive to this day, I think every time I take a drive at least one song always come on, with Failure by Design being number 1 all time for me.
I hope it’s true and they stay relevant. Sad to see fade away
Just keep it relevant to you then! That’s what I do at least, and we have this group which way more people post here than I would have thought of ya know. But I do see your point, every couple months I start looking for merch and cool stuff to buy for some reason and that makes me wish they were still making music 🫠
Hey! I will be in said cover band if that’s what it takes 😂
I’m all in!! 😂
A Brand New cover band would be fucking awful
Dude have you seen a Pink Floyd cover band? El Monstero is totally reminiscent of what a Brand New show looked like. I wasn’t comparing the music, but the aesthetics of a concert. Fucking lasers, the feels, and shit. Doesn’t seem like a far off comparison
If they ever did a show at some point in the future, I would pay any amount of money to see it. I was too young to see them live in the past...I won't have the opportunity for the foreseeable future. Huge bummer.
We as fans KNOW brand new isn’t just another band. They are transcendent!
I LOVE brand new but this is a wild take
We need more Brand New is not a wild take 😉
Idk. They are to me. I think that's most important. As for 'everyone else'? We are being fed this sterile pop culture more so then ever before. It probably isn't going to stop until we turn into the movie Idiocracy. Popularity is now measured by IG followers. I don't see a rock band getting to the level of a Pink Floyd any time soon, as far as the general public is concerned. It was never in Brand New's cards. On the bright side, you have a whole sub of people that do appreciate Brand New (*gives me flash backs to all the times seeing mix tape live). Feels fitting to end with this: They were the greatest band in a century Lyrics tattooed on your wrist They were gonna stay together forever but they couldn't keep up with the kids, and so they called it quits Now they're gone and you won't get them back
we’ve been fed mainstream music our whole lives and we were fed this band and every band in this genre in the 2000s, and Brand New was definitely a spoon fed band after Deja during that time, wether TRL, FUSE or whatever. I remember watching Brand new play in 2002 Jesse on crutches, either way Science Fiction was the end, they said it themselves we just didn’t get a final tour.
The music is very much studied and cover bands do exist. I believe they absolutely will go in the history books as one of the most influential and important bands. There are so many bands already today that wouldn't exist without them. You're too close to it, as were the kids rushing to the store to snag a copy of "the wall" or "wish you were here." Hell, PF had 7 studio albums before dark side of the moon that many don't even know exist. Give it time (pun intended.) It will come back around and given the status it deserves. I remember that site "is this band emo" called BN the "Radiohead of emo." Urban dictionary used to define Jesse Lacey as "God." Just enjoy the music and wait for the wave. It's coming.
I remember when AP called Brand New "America's Radiohead".
Uhhhhh they can still be studied and, cover bands can certainly still pop up, and they are still a highly revered band. While Pink Floyd was one of the most popular bands of all time while they existed - brand new wasn't even like in the top 10 of their niche genre in terms of popularity. It never was going to go down that path you laid out - I wish it did as they are my favorite band ever.
Meh, maybe. Definitely wishful thinking. If we can agree that the ending stinks that’s good enough for me. I think they’d have a better cover band ratio than more successful bands from that era such as Limp Bizkit
We do some Brand New covers. Playing Degausser tomorrow night!
Hell yeah! Keep it alive, brother!
You thought Brand New was comparable to Pink Floyd?
Yeah dude. Their shows were. Not judging on the success level, but that’s why we still see Pink Floyd cover shows today. For the experience
I love brand new, but this is pretty dramatic. I also think it’s better that people holding privilege (like musicians) aren’t able to exploit vulnerable young people and have it condoned and even celebrated like it was in the past.
Now that’s dramatic. I don’t think a single soul celebrated that
Led Zepplin bragged about assaulting a “groupie” with a fish in their book, bands would consistently brag about young and numerous their “groupies” were. David Bowie, Jimi page, Jerry Lee Lewis, Steven Tyler- all “rockstars” that have in the past openly bragged (and been celebrated) for sexually assaulting children.
Were they children or were they groupies? Let’s not inflate the two. Hell, if a woman showed up at my work and flashed her titties in my face I’d probably throw a fish at her too because I can’t fucking concentrate while she does that
You’re disgusting. I specifically put “groupies” in quotes because the examples I utilized (beyond the sexual assault of the woman by a fish) WERE children and that was language used to demean How about you try to respond to my points now instead of engaging in depersonalizing the issue and making a joke?
Brand New as a project was absolutely perfect in my opinion. I would have loved a reality where BN never stopped, had consistent output, and eventually becomes one of those bands that’s been around long enough for an extensive discography and more style changes/evolutions. But the way the band’s releases went has a perfect development from album to album, and YFW feels like the beginning and SF feels like the ending. It’s like a really good movie, you can love everything in it, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you want them to keep adding scenes or constantly make sequels
Not sure I agree with the Pink Floyd part of the statement lol but yeah, they surely would've been regarded as one of the greatest rock bands of the last decades. However, the only one to blame for this is Jesse unfortunately... It sucks to think about but it's still his fault at the end of the day. He's one of the greatest songwriters ever in my opinion, and one of the reasons why I love music so much, but he still did bad things and it's one of the reasons why the band is no more today. However this shouldn't stop anyone from discovering and enjoying their music (Just like people still enjoy The Smiths and view them as one of the greatest bands ever even though Morrissey is a piece of shit).
They are/were America’s Radiohead.
I remember when AP deemed them that about 20 years ago.
That’s probably where i got it from. Seems like a fair comparison. Whats with the downvotes?
People are fucking stupid
You may be the only one that views them like that. They're great, but they are not anywhere close to the popularity (or output) of Pink Floyd or Radiohead.
That’s not what was said. What was said is that their career would carry on after they broke up
I love their music to bits but maybe Jesse shouldn't have groomed minors if they wanted to have that kinda legacy 🤷♂️
How many of ya'll have been musicians? I've had this discussion with my old band mates and my wife several times over the years. As the one on stage, it is terrifying to think of a lot of this. From the girl in the crowd perspective, many were doing whatever they could to talk to or get with band guys, from 15 onward. I am very protective of girls and women in general, being raised by my mom and sisters and seeing everything they went through. What a lot of people are missing here is context. It is easy to look down on someone when you were not there, nor did you actually have any idea of what happened. There were two women that came forward after reflecting on the past. I'm sure you've looked back on things and realized it was pretty messed up that you were involved in things. Jesse was in his early 20s and had a 17 yo and 15 yo allegedly saying he groomed them. Did they tell him they were underage? Was he looking for children? Is there any substantive accusations other than the girls and anonymous sources? From all of the "evidence" I've seen, there leaves nothing but questions. Jesse wrote about his demons and has admitted to having many issues over the years which he sought treatment for. His wife is still by his side. There are many shades of grey between black and white. Please stop making comments as "facts" if you actually have no idea what happened yourself.
im just going off the same publically available information you have! whether or not those fans were trying to hook up with jesse doesn't change the substantial point of the allegation, which is that jesse did things which met the criteria for grooming and sexual assault. my point is that \*that\* specifically is why the band doesn't have the legacy it might've - I'm not referring to wider context, music culture etc. simply the facts which the public has and how they're perceived for what it's worth, the law tends to place responsibility on older people in situations involving an adult and a minor because it recognises the implicit power imbalance and difference in capacity to understand and decide. that's not to say that some of those girls could've possibly tried to misrepresent themselves as adults, but that the legal frameworks we have place a greater responsibility on guys like jesse for what is IMO a good reason.
Yeah, that's what I thought when I read the title, but the premise stands. Who was it who robbed us, is what needs to be asked?
Pretty obviously Jesse
Did he?
Here's an article by Pitchfork in which the publication interviewed two complainants who state that he did Content warning for graphic descriptions of grooming and sexual assault: [https://pitchfork.com/news/two-alleged-victims-of-brand-news-jesse-lacey-detail-years-of-sexual-exploitation-of-minors/](https://pitchfork.com/news/two-alleged-victims-of-brand-news-jesse-lacey-detail-years-of-sexual-exploitation-of-minors/)
I’m aware of the allegations, I’m disputing whether that was actually what happened. One of them was disproved by someone
To this day the only proof I’ve seen is the fact that they broke up when this all dropped. Don’t know if that’s enough to prove it happened or not. I still love their music, regardless of how divisive that statement may be outside of the sub.
They were already breaking up before all that came out. They had shirts and stuff made with their ending date on it like a year or two before it happened. They didn’t break up because of the allegation (to my knowledge).
It's a tired and drawn out point. A dead horse beaten so often and for so long it is practically dust. Yet, here comes Sknaj, to toss the same pitchfork article we've all seen for years on the table and shout "case solved". I always scroll to the bottom of posts on this sub to find the downvoted dork spouting off the 2017 rhetoric like some sort of angsty time capsule, and congratulations this time it was you!
lol not sure what you mean? i posted the link in response to the user above who asked if jesse did do the things, as a way of supporting my point - citing my sources yknow not trying to solve any cases. i have all of the same info you do. the OP of the thread was speculating about the legacy brand new could've had and my original point was that the main thing IMO standing in the way of that legacy was jesse's actions, for which there are several independent allegations. not sure what point you're making?
The *point* is that your initial comment sought to do none of that, and was a cheeky remark about an old, heavily discussed and tired subject. And to back this up, you posted the same link that has been passed around for years. If you're going to keep the drama alive the least you could do is dive a little deeper. Someone posted a Google doc here once outlining the holes and inconsistencies in the allegations with citations and plenty of evidence, wish I still had it or knew where to find it. I'm not saying that we should all believe it was bullshit but I'm also not advocating for the other end of the spectrum where goobers like you jump straight to saying "he groomed minors". No *allegedly* no *accused of* just straight up yep he did it because these articles said so. Are you even familiar with what the term "allegations" means? What does it mean to "allegedly" do something? Your logic is dangerous, making such bold statements with no concrete evidence is a slippery slope. Wanna see how flawed it is? Watch this: hey everyone, Sknaj showed up at my house pulled my shirt off and ripped my nipples clean off. I'm now going to tell some journalist about it and because he runs a story, it's true. And before you cite his "confession" just know I've read it a few times. He admits to having an unhealthy relationship with sex and not being a good faithful partner or decent human. Never once is he like "yep, I love kids!!" Get real.
Op is high or what. Why Pink Floyd? I’d rather compare them to The Smiths or Oasis both are cult af but then again they are too different