Since the band has historically tended to change their sound from album to album, it comes as no surprise that detractors have emerged with each successive release. To elaborate...
Some fans of Your Favorite Weapon felt dismayed by Deja Entendu's more polished sound, and believed that the band would have been better served sticking to their pop-punk roots.
The darker and '90s alt/art rock-inspired The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me alienated those who preferred the Smithsier lyricism of its predecessors.
Daisy produced by far the biggest divide due to its distinct screamo influences and its intentionally disjointed flow. Additionally, the fact that Lacey seemingly took a creative backseat to Vinnie Accardi in regards to songwriting did not sit well with a number of fans, many of whom disparage the quality of the album's lyrics.
The events surrounding Jesse's sexual misconduct allegations and the subsequent indefinite hiatus of the band have made talking about the band extremely difficult, especially in regards to certain lyrics on later albums. Debates rage on between fans who denounce the band in full and fans who focus on the music while showing disapproval of Jesse's actions.
Cult Classic: Despite emo's rise to mainstream prominence in the 2000's and Brand New's major influence on shaping the genre in that decade, they received very little commercial success or chart attention during their heyday but a large and rabidly devoted fanbase throughout their career.
Epic Riff: Several, but the intros to "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows", "Jesus Christ", and "At the Bottom", as well as the respective bass lines of both "Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fads" and "Millstone" are all stand out examples.
Growing the Beard: Though not without its defenders, Your Favorite Weapon was dismissed by many at the time of its release as a fairly generic pop-punk record that was over reliant on relatively simple instrumentation and immature lyrics. Come Deja Entendu, however, the band started to develop their own distinct sound, with noticeably improved instrumentation and lyricism.
Mainstream Obscurity: As detailed above in Cult Classic. Even though they regularly played large venues such as Madison Square Garden, one would be hard pressed to find more than a couple of songs from the band that the average person would instantly recognize.
"Science Fiction" hit number #1 on the Billboard 200...only to fall to #97 on its second week, marking the steepest fall of a #1 record in the chart's history.
Nightmare Fuel: Just about once a song from the latter half of Deja Entendu onward, though Your Favorite Weapon and "Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades" aren't really light in their lyrical content, either. Special mention goes to The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me for its death-obsessed lyrical content, and Daisy, where the narrator seems to become progressively more and more mentally unhinged.
A lot of songs on The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me. Special mentions to the sudden explosion of sound towards the end of "Luca", the the creepy choir in "Degausser", the horrific feedback noise at the end of "Limousine", the ominous riff that underpins "You Won't Know", and the unnerving background noises in "Untitled".
Christ, "137" is horrifying. A surprisingly reserved instrumental that still feels like it's ready to explode at any moment (which it eventually does, during the solo following the second verse), combined with possibly the darkest lyrics the band's had since "Limousine".
Let's all go play Nagasaki, We can all get vaporized. Hold my hand, let's turn to ash, I'll see you on the other side...
Signature Song: "Jesus Christ", although Deja Entendu fans will often side with "Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades", "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows", or "Play Crack the Sky".
Fans of the band's earlier work will swear by "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad", as it also happens to be the only song from Your Favorite Weapon that the band still plays live.
"Can't Get It Out" is quickly competing for this with a number of fans, many remarking about how well it seems to sum up their entire career.
Tear Jerker: Frequent in the band's catalog, each album they've put out contains at least one or two of these.
Your Favorite Weapon contains "The No Seatbelt Song" and "Soco Amaretto Lime"
Off Deja Entendu we have "Tautou", "Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades", "The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot", "Me Vs. Maradona Vs. Elvis", and perhaps most notably "Play Crack the Sky".
The majority of The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me falls into this category, but "Jesus Christ", "Limousine" (which is also Nightmare Fuel), the short instrumental "—" (or "Untitled" as it's more commonly known), and "Handcuffs" all hit particularly hard.
Daisy has two of them in the form of "You Stole" and the closing track "Noro".
With the knowledge that it's most likely going to be their final album, ALL of Science Fiction could count as this, but special mention goes to "Waste".
Don't lose hope my son
This is the last one
Off Science Fiction, the acoustic track "Could Never Be Heaven", and the closer "Batter Up" both stand out as especially resonant as well.
On the Leaked Demos 2006, there's "Good Man" (or "Untitled 1" as it was previously called), "Brother's Song" ("Untitled 3"), and the acoustic rendition of "Sowing Season" ("Untitled 8").
The band's abrupt end. Putting aside what happened in regards to Jesse, seeing Brand New end after garnering much more praise with Science Fiction is heartbreaking, more so considering Jesse himself decided to end the band and has shown immense guilt over the events that lead up to it.
Vindicated by History: Though they always enjoyed a relatively strong critical reception within the pop punk community, it wasn't until the 2010s that the band began to be credited by the music press in general as one of the major rock bands of their era.
This is especially true in regards to The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me. When it was first released in 2006, while greeted with generally positive reviews, it was still seen as just another product of the 2000s emo/pop-punk boom (despite them completely moving away from the latter genre by this point), with some major publications such as Pitchfork even neglecting to review it entirely. Fast-forward a decade later, however, and its critical acclaim has risen to the point that it has been celebrated as not only one of the great rock records of the 2000s, but as perhaps the most important record in its genre since American Football's self titled release.
double as both this and a Heartwarming Moment.