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" on April 30, 2007.

Production

History and leaked demos

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

Four of the demos went on to be officially released and/or re-recorded. "Untitled 8" was reworked into the album's opening track "Sowing Season" and "Untitled 6 (also known as "Mamas") later became "Luca". The original version of "Luca" was also released as the album's bonus track in the UK as "Luca (Reprisal Version)".

"Untitled 3" was later released as "Brothers", the b-side to "Jesus". Additionally, an alternate version of "Brothers" was released as "aloC-acoC", the b-side to "Sowing Season" ("Coca-Cola" backwards, most likely spelled as such to avoid copyright infringement). "Untitled 7" was re-recorded and released as the single "(Fork and Knife)".

It is also worth noting that "Untitled 9" bears a resemblance to "Archers" during the chorus, specifically the beginning of the vocal melody.

Music and lyrical content

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.

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 cover image

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. 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.

After a July 30, 2008 solo show, Lacey stated that the long wait for the vinyl release of The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me was due primarily to the band's failure to secure the rights of Nicholas Prior's photograph; which is on the cover for the CD. Lacey continued on saying that after the band either secured the rights to the picture, or chose an alternate cover, only then would the album be released on vinyl. The band managed to secure the rights to the image by 2010, and released the album on vinyl in that same year.

Vinyl release

On January 11, 2010, Brand New announced via their Twitter account that The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me would be released as a double vinyl LP set through Procrastinate! Music Traitors and Triple Crown Records. This version included a lyric sheet that was not included with the original CD. The vinyl set was made available in stores on March 23, 2010. Another pressing of the album was done by Academy Fight Song, which went up for pre-order on their website on May 17, 2010. This pressing was released on September 17, 2010. Reportedly, Your Favorite Weapon and Deja Entendu will also be re-released on vinyl, as Lacey hopes this will help fans gather "a real collection."

Record Label	Color(s)	Pressed	Weight	Notes
Triple Crown Records	Solid White	3000		† Released online & in retail stores.
	Translucent Red	500		† ‡
	Black/White Marble	500		† ‡
	Gold	500		† Sold on tour only, 25 sold per show, later shows 1 per person.
Academy Fight Song	Black	200	180 Gram Vinyl.	‡ Label's webstore exclusive.
	Blue/Black Swirl	500
	Orange/Black Swirl	1000
	Solid White	1500
	Solid Purple	500		Release on label's webstore 10-13-2010
	Blue/White Swirl	500		Available through Interpunk.com
	Orange/White Swirl	500

†First Pressing. ‡Sold out during May 17th, 2010 online pre-order.
Note: A red/black swirl version by Academy Fight Song was planned to be released at Hot Topic, but was canceled.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk.net	(90%) link
Allmusic	link
Alternative Press	link
Blender	link
Drowned in Sound	(8/10) link
The Guardian	link
PopMatters	(8/10) link
Rolling Stone	link
Spin	link
Sputnikmusic	link

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. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 78, based on 17 reviews.

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

In NME's 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade, The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me was rated as the 74th best album of 2000s. It also ranked at #20 in Sputnikmusic's Top 100 Albums of the Decade list as voted by staff members.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Jesse Lacey except where noted; all music is composed by Jesse Lacey except where noted

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Sowing Season"		Vin Accardi, Lacey	4:31
2.	"Millstone"			4:16
3.	"Jesus"			5:18
4.	"Degausser"		Accardi, Lacey, Brian Lane, Garrett Tierney	5:32
5.	"Limousine (MS Rebridge)"			7:42
6.	"You Won't Know"			5:42
7.	"Welcome to Bangkok"		Accardi	3:05
8.	"Not the Sun"		Accardi, Lacey	3:09
9.	"Luca"			5:08
10.	"--"			2:04
11.	"The Archers Bows Have Broken"			4:14
12.	"Handcuffs"	Accardi	Accardi	4:10

UK bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Luca" (Reprisal Version)	Lacey	4:02

In popular culture

• "The Archers' Bows Have Broken" is featured on the soundtrack to Burnout Paradise and Burnout Dominator.
• "Sowing Season" is a playable song in the video game Guitar Hero 5.
• "You Won't Know" is the introduction to the Stargate Universe episode "Divided".

Personnel

The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me personnel according to vinyl edition liner notes.

Brand New

• Jesse Lacey – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Vincent Accardi – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Garrett Tierney – bass, backing vocals
• Brian Lane – drums, percussion
• Derrick Sherman – rhythm guitar, backing vocals

Production and recording

• Mike Sapone – production
• Brand New – production
• Claudius Mittendorfer – recording
• R. Peterson – additional recording
• Rich Costey – mixing
• Emily Lazer – mastering
• Sarah Register – mastering
• L. Wood – A&R

Additional musicians

• Irina Yalkowsky – theremin on "Luca"
• Ron Piscitello – percussion
• Brent Arnold – strings
• Margaret White – strings

Art and design

• Jason Noto – art direction and layout
• Morning Breath Inc. – art direction and layout
• Jesse Lacey – photographs
• Brand New – photographs
• Borucki – photographs
• N. Prior – cover
• E. DeAngelis – skeletons

Release history

Country	Date	Label	Format	Catalog #
United Kingdom	November 20, 2006	Interscope/Tiny Evil	CD (with bonus track)	602517174528
United States	November 21, 2006		CD	B0008034-02
	March 23, 2010	Procrastinate! Music Traitors/ Triple Crown/Interscope/Tiny Evil	Double LP	3099-1
	September 17, 2010	Academy Fight Song	Double LP	B0013946-01

External links

• Brand New Street Team Interview