Mrs. Green Apple – Brand New

We’ll be sure to follow up whenever Brand New release a song titled “Mrs. Green Apple”…

[Video]
[6.11]David Allun Jones: Holy caffeine rush Batma—er, Spider-Man!! Once you reorient your senses to all “Brand New” tries to pack in, and its connection to the latest web-slinger film, things begin to make sense. The orchestra in overdrive slammed against the bright pep of a fairly standard turn-of-century pop-punk soundbed evokes the whiz-bang, punches-and-explosions delirium of a comic book action scene brought to IMAX big screen life, that tense math-rock blip in the second verse noting the third act moment when it’s looking like the hero might not have what it takes to save the universe. For all that technically impresses though, especially singer Motoki Ohmori’s clouds-parting whoops and wails deftly coasting through the cacophony like a heavy metal mastermind, the old fogey in me just needs everybody and everything involved to chill the eff out. Thoughts and prayers to all parents trapped in vehicles the next year with the kids in charge of the playlist.
[5]

Jel Bugle: Some good Japanese pop! I like the way the guy sings, very emotional. Lots going on musically too, orchestral and slightly manic. A good song!
[7]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Sounds really good, guys! Just one note: could we add the loudest, longest string figure of all time somewhere in there? Perhaps twice? Great!
[6]

Al Varela: I love the way the strings and horns swirl around the revving guitars, with the band members delivering passionate performances as the song builds into this big, heroic-sounding anthem. I like that this one is more directly about Spiderman’s arc in Brand New Day, learning that he doesn’t have to isolate himself and deal with things alone. Having others there to be there for you, to relate to you and help you be the best you can will make you a better “hero” at the end of the day. It makes “Brand New” in particular feel like the moment Spiderman is at his strongest, and the huge scale of this song exemplifies it
[8]

Charlotte Gaze: This is not good for my cholesterol levels.
[3]

Ian Mathers: I am definitely missing some cultural context, but the band name, the almost Disco Inferno-ish way they trigger those string samples during the opening salvo, parts of the video; correctly or not, this off a certain whiff of the old “lol so random” vintage. Honestly, the most successful parts are the ones that, like the way the string samples get pulsed and extruded or the brief, tantalizing glimpse of potential chaos at the climax, suggest the far weirder, cooler sounder sound this could have been. They could still keep the average melody, lyrics, and lead singer who sounds like he’s been paying too much attention to the guy from Muse.
[6]

Nortey Dowuona: Motoki Ohmori, who handles both writing and production, has a fine tenor voice that threatens to become a alto whenever he soars. Unfortunately, not being a reader or speaker of Japanese, I can only rely on rudimentary translantions such as “When the wound in my chest begins to hurt/What do I sacrifice, and what do I save?/Everything is perhaps inevitable/My justice is here.” All very poetic and beautiful, all could be rudimentary fictions. In fact, these lyrics are “And when the wounds in my heart have already started to hurt/What will you save with this sacrifice?/It’s all completely inevitable/My righteousness lies here.” Or in fact, they are “The wound in my heart is already aching/What will I sacrifice to save?/Everything is inevitable /Here’s my truth.” The flimsy nature of lyric translations means that all of these could be lies, and I would have no way of telling what Ohmori has actually said. All I have is the bright, lively fire of his voice; sadly that will have to be enough.
[8]

Ashton Arbus: From the first seconds it’s immediately obvious these guys are one of the many nondescript Shimokitazawa bands they wheel out to make generic anime openings. It gets the job done fine without leaving a lasting impression. I can easily imagine some shonen protagonist running down a long hallway, a triumphant look on his face as he and his friends face off against a grand evil. The tense chromatic strings throughout are a nice touch that gives this some kind of identity, but not much. Adequate seasonal filler.
[4]

Tim de Reuse: The chopped-up string section sits clumsily over the indie rock instrumental, and it only gets more bloated and unwieldy when the vocals pile in. Still, we layer past all pretense of good taste, over beat switches and key changes, climaxing with a snare roll that lasts a good eight measures; at this point, the sheer number of novel elements reaching your ears turns the sonic field into a kind of informational crush, like a dessert that hits you with too much sugar up-front to be able to taste anything else. I can’t fault it, though, because it’s doing exactly what it sets out to do, very deliberately. I have not seen many songs effectively communicate this kind of all-consuming adolescent obsession-love; it’s got to be joyous, yeah, but it’s also got to show a lack of restraint to the point that you get a little embarrassed when you realize you kinda like it.
[8]