Neck Deep: The Peace and the Panic [Full Album Review **Bonus Tracks**]
As everyone and their mom knows by now, I absolutely am obsessed with @neckdeepofficial, I have been for years! I was really into their third full length album Life’s Not Out to Get You so when it became time for their fourth LP to arrive, I was a little nervous. Could these boys I love so dearly really top LNOTGY? That seemed pretty unlikely. But, this is one time in my life that I was glad I was wrong! The Peace and the Panic has a little something for everyone. There are truthful, cut to the bone lyrics, there are story lyrics, heavy beats or catchy melodies. Whatever you could want, there is at least one song on this album for you!
(And if you’re a huge fan like me, Target has the hook up and you get two bonus tracks! Also, ND has really killed it on their marketing incentive this album and you get a band member trading card for every physical CD you buy!......I don’t want to pick favorites.....BUT....I got Ben Barlow, who may or may not be my favorite member. He just gives me heart eyes, you know? But, I love everyone. I swear. Catch me freaking out about how cool the trading card is here!)
1. Motion Sickness
Favorite Lyric: “It's time to kick the habit, I'm coming clean. It's been a hell of a ride, but it's all caught up with me.”
Favorite Quirk: I love that this album kicks off with such energy and transparent lyrics. It sets the bar high, engages the listener and shows us that this album isn’t going to be sugar coded, it’s going to be real. So we better buckle up and get ready for this bumpy ride the band’s about to take us through.
2. Happy Judgement Day
L: “Is it just me or does anyone else feel like this could be farewell? Oh, we almost had it, then we pissed it all away. Building walls, dropping bombs... stop the world, I'm getting off.”
Q: Who says that pop punk can’t be political? I know that Neck Deep is from Wales....but this seems to be speaking pretty loudly about America. And rightfully so. And for the record, I also feel like this could be farewell sometimes....but that’s a discussion for another day.
3. Grand Delusion
L: “Crawling up the walls, caving as they are caving in. Claustrophobic in my own skin from holding it all in.”
Q: Band Members, they’re just like us! I love how Neck Deep brings light to anxiety and how it is more common than anyone wants to believe. The more we talk about it, the more normalized it will finally be.
4. Parachute
L: “I wanna let go, and fall for you. And when it gets rough, be your parachute.”
Q: This song is simply a journal entry. A song about missing your person and wanting to be anywhere but where you are without them.
5. In Bloom
L: “And thinking back upon those days, way way back when I was young. I was such a little shit, ‘cause I was always on the run.”
Q: One of my favorite songs off the album!! (And I’m 90% sure it’s not because it’s also a Nirvana song title.) I’m usually a purely lyrical person. But, this song’s melody is just so catchy and so GENIUS. The chorus is ridiculously addictive and you’ll always catch me singing it in the car/shower/when doing the dishes/etc. Good luck not doing the same.
Side Note: Pastels and Florals?? Did Neck Deep cater this specifically to me?
6. Don’t Wait (feat. Sam Carter of Architects)
L: “Dig deep, believe. The truth will set you free.”
Q: This is for sure the heaviest song that Neck Deep has released. And although my metal days have been over for sometime I really love this song. I don’t think it would be the same without Sam Carter. And while this is another political song, I think in this decade we could use all the punk political songs we can get.
7. Critical Mistake
L: “You have sixteen new messages. First new message: ‘Why do I even bother calling you? It's been like sixteen times today! I know you've seen the line. So stop ignoring me!’”
Q: What can I say? I love a song with a phone recording in it. I don’t know why, I just always do.
8. Wish You Were Here
L: “I can barely drive past the school without stopping to think of you, and how we used to act a fool.”
Q: It’s interesting that Ben Barlow and Fil Thorpe-Evans take turns singing on this track. These poor boys have a lot of grief to process on this record. This is a heartfelt ballad about a true story.
9. Heavy Lies
L: “We're softly spoken, my skin and your fingertips. Your lonely lips start to twist.”
Q: This one is a pretty simple catchy jam about digging a special someone. There isn’t much to say, it’s pretty cute.
10. 19 Seventy Sumthin’
L: “There was a girl who had lost her way, she blushed red when he came over and they danced the night away. And he sung as he drove her home and It was there that she would say ‘If I could than I would save you’ and he smiled and turned away. In six weeks they're saying "I do" Oh, love just don't go that way no more.”
Q: We’ve come to the song. The song that is directly from Ben Barlow’s heart remembering his father. I’ll let Ben do the talking on this one. Prepare the tissues, mates.
11. Where Do We Go When We Go
L: “Pain, pain, go away. Come back another day. I just wanna get one up on life before it kills me.”
Q: This is another favorite of mine off of this album. It’s so insanely catchy, between the kids singing the intro and the kicking drums it’s hard for this song not to become your instant favorite too. Anyway, to summarize it, this is simply a song about living your life. We have exactly one shot at doing this thing called living.
Bonus Tracks
12. Beautiful Madness
L: “Without you, the world was a drag.”
Q: A fast beat song about the craziness that is love and relationships.
13. Worth It
L: “Ask yourself, is it worth it? To pour the gasoline if it's already burning. 'Cause all I want to do is fall asleep with you, to drift away and hold onto.”
Q: What a song to end an album on! It’s classic Neck Deep sound with catchy melodies that will make you dance in your chair. The story is really just about fighting with your significant other, but would they be pop punk if they didn’t write at least one song on that topic? ;)