Coming from an early twenty-first century hot bed of promising young punk influenced bands in Long Island, New York, USA, the members of emo band Brand New - Jesse Lacey (b. 10 July 1978, Long Island, New York, USA; vocals/guitar), Vinnie Accardi (b. Vincent Accardi, USA; guitar), Garrett Tierney (b. 22 October 1980, Long Island, New York, USA; bass), and Brian Lane (drums) - grew up within short distances to each other. Despite all of its members being either in high school or working full-time at the time of their formation in 2000, Brand New quickly carved a niche for themselves. Lane’s job at the time was at a nearby recording studio, resulting in the quartet recording songs (after hours, and unbeknown to the owners) that would later appear on their debut album. The session did not go without a glitch however, as the entire original recording was allegedly lost on a computer’s hard drive, and had to be recorded a second time. Signed to Triple Crown, Your Favorite Weapon was released in 2001 and followed up with a supporting tour that lasted for well over a year, as Brand New opened for Finch and Dashboard Confessional.
Finally off the road and equipped with some new tunes, the band entered the recording studio once more, but this time with renowned producer Steven Haigler in charge. Although Brand New was the object of a bidding war with several major labels, they opted to go with another indie, Razor & Tie, for 2003’s Deja Entendu. The album proved to be more musically varied than its predecessor, and almost reached the Top 50 on the Billboard album chart. As a result of their sudden success, Your Favorite Weapon was reissued via Razor & Tie the same year.
Apart for the release of the limited edition The Holiday EP in late 2003, little was heard from Brand New over the next two years. They signed a major label recording contract with Interscope Records and, following a brief hiatus due to Lacey being hospitalised for appendicitis, completed work on their third album.
