1	Dumbstruck Dumbf**k
2	Sort Yourself Out
3	This Is All My Fault
4	We Need More Bricks
5	Heartbreak Of The Century
6	Go Outside!
7	Take Me With You
8	They May Not Mean To (But They Do)
9	It Won’t Be Like This Forever
10	Moody Weirdo

Neck Deep

Neck Deep

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Genre: Pop Punk.
Released: 19/01/2024
Via Hopeless Records

Album Review: Neck Deep – Neck Deep

In just over a decade, with four critically acclaimed albums already under their belts, Neck Deep have gone from being scrappy, naive pop punk start up, to being recognised as one of the UK leading Pop-Punk exports. Surpassing over 1,000,000,000 streams on Spotify in 2023, the band now hope to create a soundtrack to their growing fan bases best and worst times with their new self-titled fifth studio album.

There’s no denying that this is a Neck Deep album as soon as you hit play on this record, ‘Dumbstruck Dumbf**k’ instantaneously throws you into something that feels both fresh whilst also sounding like it could have been a b-side from any of the bands previous catalogue. Ben Barlow’s uniquely raspy vocals layering themselves atop catchy guitar riffs and fast paced drumming, perfectly setting the tone for the rest of the record ahead.

‘Sort Yourself Out’ starts to move the intensity up to eleven within the record, I’m sure this song will undoubtedly go down well with the circle pit crews in a live setting. And for the regular moshers, political single ‘We Need More Bricks’ will have you covered, dropping a great release of energy as it goes into the chorus.

‘They May Not Mean To (But They Do)’ comes as an introspective moment within the record, talking about how your parents can “f*ck you up” but they don’t mean to, and before long you’ll be doing the same to your children. The song features a memorable guitar solo of the choruses hook towards the end that’ll have you humming for days.

I’m sure it was a hard choice for the band to choose between ‘It Won’t Be Like This Forever’ and ‘Moody Weirdo’ to end the record, as both songs feel like they could have closed out this album well. Arguably, I feel the former would have made a better end point than the latter that they went with.

For a self titled record it sees the band honing down on the skills they’ve built up over the last 10 year, culminating in an album that is start to finish undeniably Neck Deep. However while I feel the songs across this record stand strong individually, the album does lack any cohesive thread to tie it all together. That being said, the songs are undoubtedly on their way to become some fan favourites in no time. I can’t wait to see how the band bring them to life when they celebrate the album’s release at Alexandra Palace later this year.