Today I thought I would take a break from my usual political commentary to share with you one of the greatest albums to hit the music scene in years. “The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me“, by the ex-emo outfit Brand New, is about as far from the popular definition of emo as you can get and that is a very good thing.

Before I listened to this album I was expecting disappointment. I thoroughly enjoyed “Deja Entendu” and I did not think these guys were capable of surpassing the above-average quality of that attempt. Boy was I wrong. Just as Deja greatly surpassed “Your Favorite Weapon“, “The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me” is a new Milestone for this band.

I decided to wait a while to write this review. Like Deja, TDAGARIM took a couple of listens to fully appreciate. At the same time, “Deja Entendu” quickly began loosing its appeal as I listened to it more and more. The new album does not have this problem. I have probably listened to the CD over fifteen times and it has failed to get old. Not only that, but every song gets played each time. There are some gems in “Degausser”, “Millstone”, “Sowing Season”, “Limousine”, “You Won’t Know”, and “Luca” but the album as a whole can be played from beginning to end without the slightest thought of skipping a track. This is a very rare trait in the music industry today, considering the constant repetition you hear on the radio and MTV.

So why is this album so good? The simple answer is that everything meshes together very well and, at the same time, does not sound repetitive. The guitars are amazing and Vincent Accardi definitely deserves credit for that. The bass rhythms provide a solid and creative backbone in every song they are present, in some places even out doing the guitar solo’s that are supposed to be more prevalent. And then theres the vocals, full of emotion and thought (as you would expect from frontman Jesse Lacey), but theres something more. A meaningfulness that can be found nowhere else in music today. And thats what makes this album great. The meaningfulness. It is very rare to find musicians who love what they do. Sure there are those who love the money and fame, but do they really love the music they play? These guys do and thats why they are going to be around for a long time.

According to a preliminary study conducted by University of Arizona psychiatrist Dr. Francisco A. Moreno, psilocybin, the active ingredient in ‘magic mushrooms’, may provide relief for patients suffering from severe OCD.

This small-scale test, the first of its kind since the drug was outlawed in 1970, was not enough to come up with any real scientific conclusions. More research has to be done to determine if there are any true benefits. Nonetheless, the results of the study are very interesting. According to MSNBC, all nine of the patients studied had some degree of relief, lasting up to 24 hours in some of the participants.

According to the article:

Currently, there is no treatment that eases symptoms of the disorder as fast as psilocybin appears to, Moreno said. Other drugs take several weeks to show an effect, but the psilocybin was almost immediate.

These results are simply amazing and I can not wait to see what further studies will show. If FDA-approval (and the staggering amount of bureaucracy and paperwork that comes with it) were not necessary for such studies, we may have a cure for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder by now. More people would want to learn about that effects of the drug if it were actually legal to use. I know that when people push for laws that make these substances illegal they think they are helping others, but there are always unintended consequences. When the effects of a drug can not be studied, possible benefits from those drugs will never be found. LSD, for example, has been shown to be a possible cure for alcoholism. In that study, alcoholics who took one hit of LSD have been sober for 40 years, never consuming either drug again. We may never know the true benefits of these substances unless they are made legal.

Now, not even thieves are exempt from the IRS and its tax ‘laws’. Did you steal a car last summer? How about about a plasma TV? Maybe you ’stole’ an mp3 or movie by downloading them on the internet via BitTorrent or your favorite P2P program. In fact, if you stole anything at all, the IRS now requires you to declare the property as a gain on your IRS form. I know, its hard to believe, but if you think I doctored the above photo check out the PDF on the official IRS website. Go to page 90 and look in the area I have circled on the image. It is relatively absurd to believe that a thief is actually going to report to the IRS what they stole. The audacity, condescension, and stupidty of the government never fails to amaze me.

Brand New Mercedes - Free
Brand New 30″ Plasma TV - Free
400 Songs and 15 Movies - Free
Sending the Government $6,000 for your stolen property - Priceless