One common criticism of pop music today is how clean and exact every note is -- and devoid of any spontaneity. Even mainstream rock n' roll, for all of the genre's anarchic and dangerous boastings in past lives, is completely guilty.

Long Island's Top 40-charting, major label-signing Brand New shows in its new album -- innocently titled Daisy -- that the band doesn't care what you or your dad thinks about them and that they can do it with a confidence seen only in stale veterans like Aerosmith.

It's been three years since Brand New released its masterful third album, The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, and much has been speculated about where the group would go with its forth long player.

Each record this band has put out since its debut was a leap ahead of the last.

The pop-punk stylings of the debut album are completely foreign from the band that recorded the wrist-slitter jubilee The Devil and God...

So where would the group lead us this time?

The only place for the band to go is either down or somewhere different altogether. "Vices" kicks the door of the album open 85 seconds into the track and gives a definitive answer to that question.

This is by far the most pissed-off song of the band's career. I don't know what happened to Jesse Lacey, but he's shrieking like someone just murdered his entire family.

The track begins with an ancient-sounding hymn sung by a woman. "Knowing when all else doth fail,/Thy compassion shall be free/Oh let it be, let me be/On life's highway, God with thee" sings the cherubic chanteuse, to which Lacey answers with a deathly urgent cry of "We need Vices" over a bed of dissonant riffs.

This song is notable not only for its stadium-sized emotional qualities, but for the way it was produced and written.

The song was clearly well thought out musically and tightly produced, but at the same time there are enough blemishes and screw-ups to give it a raw quality.

The guitar solos are reminiscent of those on Iggy Pop's Raw Power, completely terrible technically but so striking for their sense of carelessness.

It adds a lot to the track, considering the 'we're all going to die anyway' themes of the record.

The rest of the record isn't much of a complete break away from this band's past but definitely shows a continued growth.

The somber sounds of The Devil and God... are here in similar form, though it may take a few listens for old fans to get into the groove.

Having "Vices" as the first track on the album was a great choice by Brand New, as it lets the listener know that this album is its own creation to be taken in terms of itself.

"Gasoline" picks up on the heaviness of "Vices" a few tracks later.

The song isn't as straightforward and we see how far Brand New has come in terms of its ability to use arrangement and dynamics.

The song "Gasoline" builds in intensity over its three-and-a-half minute duration, but the heavy drumbeat is present from the start, acting as a skeleton over which the band slowly creates the vital organs, arteries and finally skin.

It's a stunning feat.

The band's pop sensibilities are not missing, either.

The album's first single "At the Bottom" shows some great guitar and vocal interplay.

The six-minute "You Stole" broods comfortably, ebbing and flowing throughout and inserts its pretty yet damning two-line chorus:

"So if I'm a liar and you're a thief/ At least we both know where the other one sleeps."

The biggest problem with Daisy is its time issues.

At just under 40 minutes, this album breezes by quickly.

Just about every song clocks in suspiciously close to the three-minute mark, the exception being "You Stole."

This song shows that Brand New could stretch its songs further if they wanted too, developing the musical themes much more fully and deliberately.

Most of the time, though, the group just lets the songs end instead of taking them further down the path.

Daisy may not be as good as The Devil and God..., but it's a great record by any standard.

Full of surprises both subtle and in-your-face, Daisy positions Brand New as a rare band that has mastered its own vision.

Grade: B

Download: "At the Bottom," "Sink"