Neck Deep have had their fair share of criticisms to handle. They initially encountered accusations of being just a copycat band riding the wave of The Story So Far, accused of cashing in on a genre which was obviously prevailing within the punk scene at the time, but the band have let their music do the talking, they signed to Hopeless Records and have a very well sold UK tour to accompany the release of their debut album. There’s no doubts at all that Neck Deep are going to have a huge 2014, but does ‘Wishful Thinking’ justify it?
We open things up with ‘Losing Teeth’ a track which should shake the TSSF tag almost immediately, yeah, vocalist Ben Barlow has a similar tone in his voice to that of Parker Cannon but that can’t be helped and if you look beyond that the music which in itself has a bit more going on, the lyrics and overall tone feel a lot more positive and upbeat, this song is destined to be a live set opener with its big chorus and fade out ‘whoa oh’ outro which leads nicely into lead single ‘Crushing Grief – (No Remedy)’ which does a good job in maintaining the momentum from the opening track.
Things genuinely go from strength to strength in the opening half of the album ”Damsel In Distress’ is an incredibly bouncy track that showcases the bands knack for a good chorus and ‘Zoltar Speaks’ with its skate punk-esque first half should should go some way to softening even the hardest critics of the band, key change and all.
As you head into the second half of the album, the band almost suffer from being a bit samey… similar song structure and vocal style contribute to this and it almost detracts from what is a really bloody good opening half, luckily, the short, sharp bursts of energy which comes in the form of ‘Say What You Want’ does enough to keep your attention while album curtain closer ‘Candour’ comes in the form of a much more slowed down vibe which sees the introduction of some strings to accompany a pretty satisfying conclusion to what is an extremely solid and well written album.
‘Wishful Thinking’ has allowed Neck Deep to have their own identity, it more than justifies their hype and with this release, it won’t be long before their UK tour will be selling out completely. A great way to kick of 2014.
CHRIS MARSHMAN