Neck Deep are back! Not that they ever went away…but with their 3rd album “The Peace and the Panic” now on shelves, we have 11* new tracks to check out!
(*Grab the special edition for bonus tracks)
“Wishful Thinking” & “Life’s Not Out to Get You” are both straight up, great pop punk records; to follow up was never going to be an easy task. Thankfully, album number 3 picks up right where they left off and shows the natural progression of a band who are not only maturing in age, but as musicians. The punchy sound Neck Deep have built their base on is still there, kicking straight in from the off with “Motion Sickness” & “Happy Judgement Day”. Yet there are signs of the direction the band are moving in with the fantastic new single “In Bloom” & album track “Parachute” – showing perhaps a more accessible sound. “In Bloom” in particular has had an immediate positive response, so the changing direction is clearly being embraced by the wider music fan.
Perhaps the most surprising element to this album is the track “Don’t Wait”, featuring a cameo from Architects front man Sam Carter. Architects are worlds away from the pop punk scene, however the inclusion is a masterstroke. It doesn’t feel like Carter has been shoe-horned in for the easy PR grab (an accusation that could be thrown at many cameo appearances of recent years) – it really works well & the track is one of my personal highlights from this album.
It isn’t a pop punk record unless you have a slow acoustic jam, “Wish You Were Here” is this years offering – it perhaps doesn’t sit above ND’s previous efforts but an enjoyable song nonetheless.
Is this the best Neck Deep effort yet? That’s up for debate, but it more than holds its own amongst a growing discography of great pop punk music.
Neck Deep fans will love it, those new to the band will love it; this is a great album.
Perhaps most importantly, we have a UK band who are really paving the way for more to follow. In a genre thats always been so dominated by the American market, to have one of our own leading the charge is no bad thing. The old joke “Fuck Neck Deep mate, they’re shit” needs to stop – “The Peace and the Panic” demonstrates quite clearly, they aren’t shit. Far from it.
