Album Review: Neck Deep - "Life's Not Out To Get You"

After they signed to Hopeless Records in 2013, Wrexham lads Neck Deep were catapulted to the top of the pop punk hierarchy with only two EPs under their belt. They released their critically acclaimed debut album, Wishful Thinking, last year, but this summer’s Life’s Not Out To Get You is their catchiest and most exciting work yet. 

Neck Deep don’t hesitate to get angry fingers pointing, opening the album with ‘Citizens of Earth’, an edgy and in-your-face track which gets you pumped for the rest of the album. It’s very different to anything they’ve produced before, but more similar to some of the stuff on their groundbreaking earlier EPs than Wishful Thinking which will undoubtedly please many longterm fans. It’s also a big ‘fuck you’ to the haters as the band mock some of their most common criticisms: “Fuck Neck Deep mate, they’re shit. Ben’s dad owns a record label”.

Then comes ‘Threat Level Midnight’, the most recent single, released a couple of days before to tip the hype surrounding the album over the edge. With vigorous drum work and catchy guitar riffs, it follows the traditional pop punk formula, but it’s expected from one of the most prominent bands of the genre. The other singles ‘Gold Steps’ and ‘Can’t Kick Up The Roots’- which first got tongues wagging back in May- are both upbeat summer anthems with unforgettable choruses and jammy guitars. ‘Can’t Kick Up The Roots’ also defies genre boundaries with vocalist, Ben Barlow, actually speaking fondly of his small hometown. 

The album is packed with other bouncy, posi tracks such as ‘Kali Ma’ but also features more emotional classic pop punk songs like ‘Lime St’. Neck Deep also pay tribute to the song that kickstarted their career, ‘A Part Of Me’, from their EP Rain in July with acoustic track ‘December’. It is sweet and mellow, but also heartbreaking, and many fans will surely find it relatable. ‘The Beach is For Lovers (Not Lonely Losers)’ and ‘Rock Bottom’ almost sound like they belong on an early 2000s blink-182 album with lots of bass and repetitive backing vocals, whilst ’Kali Ma’ and ‘Serpents’ feature Ben’s infamously clever wordplay and rhymes.

Having been produced by A Day To Remember’s Jeremy McKinnon, his stylistic influence is apparent, and perhaps some of the album’s successes should be credited to him. However, instrumentally Neck Deep have improved massively. Dani Abasi’s drumming is exceptional and it’s also great to see Ben exploring new horizons with his vocals. All in all, Life’s Not Out To Get You is a pretty standard pop punk album, but it is put together brilliantly. It is a fun, feel-good album that contradicts stereotypical modern day sad pop punk and will see the band reach incredible new heights. Neck Deep are doing the UK proud in a scene that is usually dominated by Americans, and proving without a doubt that the pop punk revival is only just beginning. Hell, it even finishes with the line: “resurrect and start again”.

For fans of: blink-182, A Day To Remember, The Wonder Years

Album Review: Kerrang! Does Green Day's "American Idiot"

Ten years ago, Green Day released "American Idiot", which became one of the most successful albums of all time from the alternative rock scene. Today Kerrang! magazine brought out their own version to celebrate its anniversary, featuring bands such as Neck Deep, You Me At Six and Falling In Reverse. Personally, I've never been a Green Day fan, but I absolutely had to hear this.


The album opens with a cover of American Idiot by Australian pop band, 5 Seconds of Summer and it is truly atrocious. Essentially, the vocals aren't that bad, and neither are the instrumentals, but when you remember that this is meant to be a Green Day song its boy-band pre-teen pop sound is just embarrassing.

Thankfully, the rest of the album makes a quick comeback and isn't too bad. Some of the tracks, including The Blackout's cover of Holiday and Bowling For Soup's of St. Jimmy are actually pretty jammy, but there's a huge problem in that most of the songs completely lack imagination. LostAlone's cover of Letterbomb and The Defiled's cover of Wake Me Up When September Ends are unimpressive and simply sound like weak replicas of the originals. Obviously this was intended to be a tribute to Green Day, and they will have obviously heavily influenced  the majority of the bands on this album, but it really feels like there's been a missed opportunity here.

Neck Deep's version of Boulevard of Broken Dreams is one of the stronger points. Whilst far from exceptional, they give it their own twist with fast-paced pop punk guitar riffs and drum beats. Rise To Remain's cover of Jesus of Suburbia is also good with some heavier drumming and backing vocals. Interestingly, Falling In Reverse's cover of She's A Rebel is also one of the better done tracks, featuring a screamed verse and breakdown which actually adds a really good variation to the song.

The catchy, quick-pace is broken up by Escape The Fate's version of Give Me Novocaine and You Me At Six's We Are The Waiting. They're both pleasant to listen to, but again, are unimaginative.

The album also features two bonus tracks from Green Day's revolutionary third album, "Dookie", which itself turns 20 this year. State Champs' version of Welcome To Paradise is predictable and sounds nothing like their own material, but it is catchy and has the potential to be a good summer jam. The Swellers' cover of Basket Case is also very typical, but is definitely another one of the best from the album, providing an overall good finish.

Considering this album is completely free (unless you count the £3 you pay for the magazine), it's definitely worth picking up, although you'd probably be severely dissapointed if you had to pay the price of a regular CD. There are definitely more letdowns than successes; a nice idea, but executed very poorly. However, it is certainly not a bad album and is more a bit of harmless fun than anything, and there are definitely a good few tracks that are not to be missed.