Brand New aren't quite as sparkling fresh as their name suggests. These Long Island emo-punks already have a couple of lauded albums under their belt.

But their third outing -- the intriguingly titled The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me -- is the one that seems destined to vault them to the top of every MySpacer's friend list.

Partly, that's because they've stepped up to the big leagues by signing to a major label. But mostly it's because they continue to step up their musical game with each new release.

Continuing their evolution from the pop-punk upstarts of their youth, these dozen tracks are markedly the work of older, wiser and more disciplined songwriters. While their emo brethren continue to flail around having hissy fits, these tracks find frontman Jesse Lacey and co. take a more restrained and contemplative path. And a surprising one -- musically, they import a few moves from the moody foreign lands of indie-rock and goth.

Many of these artfully rendered songs are tightly wound affairs, based around sombre guitar arpeggios and coiled beats that slowly stretch forward for minutes at a time -- until all that angst bursts forth in an explosive catharsis.

Meanwhile, Lacey's yearning lyrics display his keen intelligence and emotional insight, as his plaintive vocals toggle between a dusty shiver and an anguished wail.

On a musical continuum with crowd-pleasing entertainment at one end and uncompromising art at the other, this disc is way closer to the latter than the former. So don't expect to hear epic tracks like Jesus, Degausser, Limousine, You Won't Know and Luca on the radio (though the catchy Not the Sun and the punchy Archers Bows Have Broken wouldn't be out of place).

But if you give The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me enough time to get its hooks into you, don't be surprised if Brand New suddenly become one of your favourite new bands.

Track Listing:

1. Sowing Season
2. Millstone
3. Jesus
4. Degausser
5. Limousine (MS Rebridge)
6. You Won't Know
7. Welcome to Bangkok
8. Not the Sun
9. Luca
10. Archers Bows Have Broken
11. Handcuffs