Your Favorite Weapon (stylized as Your+Favorite+Weapon and Yourfavoriteweapon) is the debut studio album by American rock band Brand New, released in 2001. Recorded and released a year after the band's formation, the album consists of pop punk songs about the highs and lows of teenage life. Your Favorite Weapon received positive reviews from critics and sold over 315,000 copies.
Background and recording
Vocalist/guitarist Jesse Lacey, bassist Garrett Tierney and drummer Brian Lane played in a band called The Rookie Lot with Brandon Reilly before the band eventually broke up. After a period of inactivity between Lacey, Tierney and Lane, The name came from Lane and Reilly.
The band signed to Triple Crown after their second-ever show. Label founder and executive Fred Feldman was initially interested in the hardcore band Home Town Hero, which featured Tierney and Lane, but by the time he contacted Lane, the group had already broken up six months earlier. Instead, Brand New sent Feldman their demo. All of the songs on the album were written during the band's teenage years "two or three years before" it was released, according to Accardi. All of the songs on the band's demo were re-recorded for the album. The band later admitted that they did not like the overall sound of "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad", despite being the album's most popular song.
Music and lyrics
Your Favorite Weapon was recorded in 2001. The sound of Your Favorite Weapon has been categorized musically as pop-punk The album consists largely of power chord-heavy songs. Asked about his influences, Lacey cited Lifetime, Foo Fighters, The Cars and The Smiths. Additionally, some of the album's lyrics and song titles draw from popular culture. "The Shower Scene" references actress Janet Leigh's story in the film Psycho. "Failure by Design" is about Lacey experiencing writer's block. "The No Seatbelt Song" was written by Lacey in the style of The Smiths, as "a reminder of the fact that we have some musical taste." "Seventy Times 7" was written about a feud between Lacey and Taking Back Sunday guitarist John Nolan. Nolan wrote about the feud from his point of view in Taking Back Sunday's "There's No 'I' in Team". on October 9, 2001. Between late October and late November, Brand New toured the U.S. with support from The Reunion Show. In January and February 2002, they toured the U.S. with support from Further Seems Forever, Recover and Hot Rod Circuit. The band then went on a spring tour with Finch, The Starting Line and Autopilot Off. In late June, Iodine Recordings released Your Favorite Weapon on vinyl along with an extra track, "...My Nine Rides Shotgun".|group="nb" A music video for "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad" was released through Much Music in July. The band went on a summer tour with Taking Back Sunday and Rufio.
Brand New supported Face to Face for a week's worth of shows between late September and early October. and Orange Island. In November, the band released the re-recorded version of "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad" on MP3.com. The album was released in the UK on March 10, 2003, through Eat Sleep. Also in March, the band went on a tour of the UK with Finch. Between late April and early May, the band toured the U.S. with support by A Static Lullaby and Orange Island. Hot Rod Circuit was originally announced to support the band, The band ended the touring cycle with a show in New York to a crowd of 5,000 people. "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad" was released as a single in the UK on June 2.