North Texas Daily

Los Angeles-based alternative rock band The Neighbourhood began releasing new music last fall in the form of two EP’s: “Hard and To Imagine.”

I was overjoyed that they had gifted the world with 10 new songs in a matter of months…and then they outdid themselves by granting fans another gift: an entire new album featuring five tracks from the LP’s along with seven more new songs!

The immensely underrated group most known for 2012’s “Sweater Weather” released it’s third studio album, the self-titled “The Neighbourhood,” on March 9, and I have had it on repeat ever since.

The 12-track release features many familiar moody and dark sounds that fans of The Neighbourhood are used to, but also offers an interesting mix of ’80s vibes with R&B and electropop throughout the record.

The album opens with “Flowers,” which has a somewhat different sound from anything I’ve heard The Neighbourhood do before, using sounds reminiscent of the ’60s but remaining true to their alternative rock and electropop roots. I think this may have been done on purpose as a way for them to reintroduce themselves.

In the tracks that follow, the band uses familiar sounds and vibes but manages to keep it sounding fresh. As mentioned before, the ’80s vibes infused in “Scary Love” (check out the music video starring Tommy Wiseau), “Void” and “Stuck with Me” make them standout. The song “Softcore” also sounds like it could be right out of the ’80s with it’s noticeable use of autotune.

Lead singer Jesse Rutherford has become known for his personal aesthetic choice of autotune use, especially in his solo ventures. Just last year, Rutherford released his debut solo album, titled “&” (which I also highly recommend listening to).

The album’s sixth track, “Blue” also features the use of autotune — but less prominently — and sounds like much of the music from the band’s debut album, “I Love You.”

“Sadderdaze” and “You Get Me So High” are both from the “Hard” EP and have similar aesthetics in that one might describe them as sad and moody tracks. But as a longtime fan of The Neighbourhood, songs like “Sadderdaze” are what I live for, and I consider it one of the highlights of the album overall.

The album is a solid effort from a band that continues to give their all, despite not quite being the typical mainstream sound. For me, it is not as great as their masterpiece of a sophomore album, “Wiped Out!” but it is far from disappointing.

My main complaint would be that the songs on “The Neighbourhood” are not quite as cohesive as their previous work. The band does seem to experiment more on “The Neighbourhood” with different sounds by throwing them into different corners of the album, making it seem less organized. Despite that, I appreciate the effort to experimentation with new and different sounds and to distinguish this album as something very different from their previous releases.

The Neighbourhood continues to release music with meaning and interesting beats and sounds, which keeps me impressed and keeps them on my list of all-time favorites.

The top tracks on the album for me are “Sadderdaze,” “Reflections,” “Nervous” and “Revenge.” And while those are my top tracks, I can likely be found listening to the entire album on repeat for the foreseeable future.

Featured Image: Courtesy The Neighbourhood