Brand Newā€™s second album Deja Entendu was a staggering watershed, building on the basic pop-punk foundation set by their debut Your Favourite Weapon to create an ambitious, layered follow-up that stretched the bandā€™s musical horizons while offering hooks that retained a link to the groupā€™s roots. This third album is an even more ambitious progression, leaving behind almost all punk influence and trading it in for taut, often understated indie rock (Not The Sun even nods to the dancefloor) favouring five-minute-plus songs.

I was underwhelmed at first ā€“ only The Archers Bows Have Broken bears much resemblance to anything on Deja Entendu (and is tucked away near the end of the album, its familiarity all the more surprising following a moody near-instrumental [titled only - -] which is one of the recordā€™s biggest departures.) But then again, Deja Entenduā€™s brilliance was all but unheralded, whereas this release had to bear the weight of expectation. Repeated listens have been kinder.

Opener Sowing Season alternates between pensive and passionate, and a frequent hallmark of the album is songs that present themselves as quiet and unassuming, only to either build in volume slowly (as on the cathartic Degausser or appealing Jesus), or suddenly roar loud and unexpected.

Singer Jesse Lacey hasnā€™t lost his flair for passionate melodrama (ā€?I used to pray like God was listeningā€¯) but wears his heart on his sleeve less often, and his vocals are often masked in the mix or their delivery.

Almost unrecognisable as the product of the same band as Your Favourite Weapon, The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me may lack the immediacy of earlier material but is however exquisitely crafted and grows in appeal with each subsequent listen.

Owen Heitmann

Hard on the heels of Tom DeLongeā€™s grandiose Angels And Airwaves debut comes +44, the new vehicle for the other ā€?halfā€¯ of blink-182, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker (Shane Gallagher and Craig Fairbaugh complete the lineup). Some have criticised the first single (and title track) from When Your Heart Stops Beating for sounding too much like classic blink, saying that at least DeLonge tried to break new ground. However, whatā€™s wrong with focusing on what youā€™re good at? Thereā€™s no pride in change for changeā€™s sake if the results suck.

Anyway, while +44 definitely sounds closer to blink-182 than Angels And Airwaves does, taken as a whole the album demonstrates clear differences ā€“ notably generally slower songs and a complete absence of the former trioā€™s trademark humour.

The album crashes open with Lycanthrope, which reinforces that Markā€™s voice was always less annoying than Tomā€™s, and proves that Hoppus and Barker have retained their previous bandā€™s knack for hooks and catchy choruses. Keyboards add texture to Baby Come On, and the title track is a kinetic slice of ultra-poppy punk with plenty of polish.

After this strong opening, the pace lulls a little with the likes of the slow but purposeful Little Death (although its reduced tempo doesnā€™t make its layered chorus less powerful) and the reflective but dense Lillian.

Cliffdiving brings vibrant pop back to the mix, with a stomping chorus that makes it one of the albumā€™s best songs. Then itā€™s time for the dreamlike instrumental Interlude. The melodic No, It Isnā€™t is restrained until breaking energetically free in the final third, while Make You Smile is a male-female duet, guitars ringing out over skittering beats.

Itā€™s not a perfect album (Weatherman is ponderous and takes itself way too seriously) but in the war between post-blink-182 splinter groups, the first battle goes to +44.

Owen Heitmann