Taking a canter through the career of a band is often one of the best and most enlightening things about doing this podcast, and we hope it’s something you appreciate too. In fact, we know it is, cause that’s why most of you tune in. But when it comes to going through the back catalogue of Brand New, well it can start to feel a little icky. Once again, emo scholar and new friend of the pod Marisa Androvik joins us to dissect the band and in particular their acclaimed third album. We touched on the ickiness of some of the band’s lyrics during last week’s episode, of course, particularly on the first two Brand New albums. Things do get a little better towards the end of their career, but much to no one’s surprise there’s also a lot of questionable lyrics on The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me. Or, we say questionable - there’s perhaps a knowingness in them, the admission that clearly Jesse knew there were skeletons that might come roaring out of the closet one day. Indeed, even the title of the album itself hints at a darkness within, and a darkness which surely did lead to his downfall back in 2017. Can we really say this album is an unsung classic though? Well, that’s truly the bone of contention here - yes, it may be their most celebrated album, but now that they’re cancelled can they ever be taken as a noted influence by bands ever again? Should we even be platforming them by discussing them in this way? Some of these questions are addressed in this episode. Some aren’t. You’ll need to listen to find out which.