Hard - EP- The Neighbourhood Review
Anyway, lets get to the tracks themselves. Roll Call effectively uses bass and drums to set a background for moody synthesizer-filtered vocals and building instrumentals(been a long time since when have we seen any in a The Neighbourhood song)., and breaks back down to them at the end, tying the song together. You Get Me So High uses the rapid fire drumming that propelled Sweater Weather to fame, with vocals that alternate between a husky whisper and the pleading almost whine classic to The Neighbourhood, the instrumentals are atmospheric guitars and keyboards, also as seen in I Love You. You Get Me So High is an appeal to their fanbase- a lifestyle anthem to be played out of your convertible, on the way to the beach. Noise is a fuzzy song with an Portugal. The man indie feel, an excellent guitar and beat, and memorable lyrics to go with it: "And now the kids are making noise just because it's something to." 24/7 is introduced with staccato keyboard and beat reminiscent of Sir Sly, and continued with guitars that actually accompany the song. The vocals alternate between a hip hop style and an almost cutesy Indie style a bit like Foster the People, with more lyrics trying to convey a meaningful message, possibly anti-suicide. Sadderdaze is a melancholy song instrumentals as varied as acoustic guitar, piano, violin and maybe more, which ends the EP on a sad but seemingly hopeful outro extremely reminiscent of Portugal. The Man.
The neighbourhood is finally reaching their potential- backing Jesse Rutherford's excellent and meaningful vocals with a worthy accompaniment. These instrumentals are well done, guitar based and the rest either moving towards edgy Sir Sly-esque experimental rock or a Portugal. The man-like eclectic clutter. I think this music has a lot of potential, and from the buzz it's getting it will hopefully break through in Hot Rock and Alternative charts, but may not be able to break back out into the mainstream. It does still have a lot of Hip Hop like elements, which is good because that's what set The Neighbourhood apart in the first place. Whether they'll build on this in a future album or EP, but hopefully not something else, this will really test The neighbourhood's popularity and power, if they can cement themselves as Indie stalwarts after the failure of I Love You. The main recommendation I can give is this: I would definitely buy this, at least in MP3 but possibly in physical format- CD or even the expensive but trendy vinyl.
wiped out wasn't boring
ReplyDeleteI love you was beautiful. You would have to be a really good fan to enjoy it. Wiped Out was even better. I listened to that album like I breathe oxygen. Honestly there music just isn't for some people. But i disagree with alot of what you said. Wiped out wasn't boring. It just tied together alot of other songs. For example the new ep does it too. In 24/7 it says daddies little girl started growing up. It applies to daddy issues
ReplyDeleteAgreed
Delete"Wiped Out!" was everything. I don't know what you're talking about. They nailed the whole atmosphere and underlying theme of the record. The production is much better than "I Love You." and each song builds on top of the other. "Daddy Issues", "Greetings from Califournia" and "Baby Came Home 2/Valentines" are its only low point, but despite that, they're tolerable and are good jams when you're in the right mood.
ReplyDeletefirst few sentences is where ur wrong
ReplyDeleteI'm glad we can all agree that Hard is good.
DeleteThe neighbourhood were and are always going somewhere. Hard is just one more proof of how good they are and can be. To be honest it's really hard for me to even pick certain albums or songs cause yeah they evolve and change but its all very consistent in what they're trying to communicate to the listener. When I listen to neighbourhood, I cant just listen to only 2-3 songs, they establish a mood that really gets to you for being honest and direct. To me they deserve much more than they already got
ReplyDelete