The Peace And The Panic
by Neck Deep

When it comes to pop punk bands trying to advance their sound, they can pick one of two routes: They can either move to a more pop sound or incorporate EDM or other contemporary genres into their music. Neck Deep did the former here and somehow managed to create an album that is more tolerable than its predecessor, yet paradoxical worse in every way.

With The Peace and The Panic, Neck Deep add Simple Plan and Good Charlotte to the list of artists they casually rip off, with vocalist Ben Barlow uncannily replicating Pierre Bouvier's vocal style and mannerisms.

Barlow's vocal performance is easily the worst thing about the record, as his insufferable, nasal whining gets grating very quickly and by the third track, you'd already wish he'd shut up already or that you didn't bother listening to this record in the first place. The lyrics don't fare much better either; they fall into two categories: generic relationship woes or tone-dead social commentary. Speaking of which, The Peace and Panic contains some of the most toothless and insincere political posturing you'll ever hear, consisting of mere empty sloganeering and meaningless platitudes.

The musicians on the album offer serviceable performances, but nothing more. As ever, the guitar playing is generic, per genre criteria, the bass is audible but does nothing to hold interest and the drumming is lackluster and dull.

The only silver lining here is the production, which is solid, as everything is mixed clearly and all the instruments are discernible from each other.

In Neck Deep's failed attempt to shake things up, they show they only have a limited repertoire of tricks and that they are rather one dimensional when it comes down to it.

From benpaco 08/30/2017 23:02 | #196971

This album is at its best at its most generic. First few tracks are fine and inoffensive, but something like In Bloom or 19 Seventy Something is really actively bad to me. There's moments on this album that sound like any AFI/Green Day/Story of the Year/etc album from the mid 2000s, and then there's moments that sound like really mediocre Plain White T's b-sides. A gross overall listening experience that is among my least favorite releases of the past few years.

I've never been the biggest Neck Deep fan, but they're usually just alright to me. This is far and away my least favorite album by them, and to go in with low expectations and still be massively disappointment is an accomplishment in its own right.