[8/10]
After spending 2013 being one of the most talked about Pop-Punk bands, including being part of the incredible tour with The Wonder Years (see our review here), 2014 has kicked off with Neck Deep releasing their debut album. Opening the album with ‘Losing Teeth’ shows while the band has grown, they are still the same band that fans fell in love with because of the Rain In July and A History of Bad Decisions EPs. Following this is ‘Crushing Grief’, a song they released to raise interest for the album in October and since been playing live. It is one of the highlight tracks of the album and the comparisons with The Story So Far are impossible to escape, due to not only the similar styling, but the quality of the track. Another stand-out track is ‘Growing Pain’, which is the lead single off of the album (see the video for the song here), where Neck Deep really hit their groove and show why they have become so popular even though they only formed as a band little over a year ago. Closing the album is ‘What Did You Expect?’, a song originally released on Rain In July, but here it is less gritty and more polished but still sounds incredible. The final track of the album is ‘Candour’, a slow ballad very similar to ‘A Part of Me’ due to the female vocals that is provided by Laura Whiteside again. Lyrically this is one of the best tracks and you will no doubt see lines such as ‘The chip off your block, held me up on your shoulder” will be all over Tumblr. While there are some standout moments, some of the other tracks have the ability to blend into each other in the first few times of listening. Overall this album is the best debut UK Pop Punk album since You Me At Six’s Take Off Your Colours, however this is firmly an album for people who like Pop-Punk and this isn’t going to bring any new fans to the genre. That being said, Neck Deep are still a band to look out for in 2014, with their first UK and USA headline tour as well as a tour opening for We Are The In Crowd, the dream of being a big deal in UK Pop Punk isn’t just Wishful Thinking, its rapidly becoming a reality.
Sam Taylor
