Brand New's breakthrough Deja Entendu felt like a revelation: a skillful, resonant bit of emo-pop that instantly put them in a different class of bands. Their followup, The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me takes the adventurous spirit of Deja Entendu and runs with it. The songs no longer depend on big hooks to make themselves known; many songs simmer rather than build. Take "Jesus" as an example. Its plucked guitars circle and repeat the same notes endlessly while lead singer Jesse Lacey's barely rise above a whisper for albums four minutes. Then they do, he's singing and not screaming. Brand New are admirable for their restraint here, letting tension build in their music. It lacks the big hooks to really be a "pop" album, unlike its predecessor, but it also depends less on soft verse/hard chorus dynamics. It certainly shows a greater eye to detail and subtlety, making it their best album yet.
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