{"id":8485,"date":"2015-08-12T11:17:41","date_gmt":"2015-08-12T11:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-neck-deep-lifes-not-out-to-get\/"},"modified":"2025-05-27T19:20:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T18:20:55","slug":"album-review-neck-deep-lifes-not-out-to-get","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-neck-deep-lifes-not-out-to-get\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Neck Deep &#8211; Life&#8217;s Not Out To Get You"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-99024 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Album-Review-Neck-Deep-\u2013-Lifes-Not-Out-To-Get-You-300x300.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Album-Review-Neck-Deep-\u2013-Lifes-Not-Out-To-Get-You-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Album-Review-Neck-Deep-\u2013-Lifes-Not-Out-To-Get-You-800x800.webp 800w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Album-Review-Neck-Deep-\u2013-Lifes-Not-Out-To-Get-You-100x100.webp 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Album-Review-Neck-Deep-\u2013-Lifes-Not-Out-To-Get-You-768x768.webp 768w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Album-Review-Neck-Deep-\u2013-Lifes-Not-Out-To-Get-You.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Ever since emerging out of nowhere back in 2012, <a href=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/tag\/neck-deep\/\"><b>Neck Deep<\/b><\/a> have been on a rocket ship that hasn\u2019t stopped. Last year&#8217;s <i>\u2018Wishful Thinking\u2019<\/i> sped up their ascension with their popularity getting bigger with every tour and festival appearance, so much so that their sophomore effort is one of the most anticipated releases of the summer. Having influenced their fair share of imitators over the past 12 months or so, <i>\u2018Life\u2019s Not Out To Get You\u2019<\/i> could be make or break for the Wrexham pop-punks. However, on this evidence it seems like that rocket isn\u2019t going to descend anytime soon.<\/p>\n<p>Whilst it\u2019s far from \u201cRecord of the Year\u201d material, what the quintet have produced is an all-round feel-good pop-punk record that makes you want to bounce around at every opportunity. Yet it begins with a slight edge as <i>&#8216;Citizens Of Earth\u2019<\/i> serves as (semi-)intro. With the defining message of <i>\u201cIt\u2019s just a matter of opinion, but no one ever\u00a0<\/i><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\"><em>listens\u201d<\/em> being central, the band addresses the critics who have shared judgment on them<\/span>, even if it mattered or not.<!-- more --><\/p>\n<p><i>&#8216;Threat Level Midnight\u2019<\/i> truly kickstarts the album and sets the standard early on with its crisp production, thriving drum work and simple but effective rhyming wordplay. Don\u2019t get me wrong, what <b>Neck Deep<\/b> do is produce your standard pop-punk by the numbers, yet they do it very well. Recent singles <i>&#8216;Can\u2019t Kick Up The Roots\u2019<\/i> with its crunching guitars and reminiscent lyrical theme and <i>&#8216;Gold Steps\u2019<\/i>; overcoming a bad situation sentiments play into this theory, but when you have a chorus as brilliant and catchy as the latter does, then you can\u2019t help but let go and simply enjoy what\u2019s on offer.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Neck Deep - Life&#039;s Not Out To Get You (Full Album Stream)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/videoseries?list=PLKAm0swRNcktl48k1d9hDIg1USK7gCBh_\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In the past, the vocal stylings of Ben Barlow have become a nuisance, yet the band\u2019s road experience has been an advantage to the frontman. <i>&#8216;Kali Ma\u2019<\/i> and <i>&#8216;Lime St\u2019<\/i> highlight an improvement in Barlow\u2019s abilities, whilst Dani Washington\u2019s drum work is a subtle highlight throughout; his rapid drum fills add that little something extra that makes <b>ND<\/b> as admired as they are.<\/p>\n<p>Lyrically, their wordplay is, at times, basic,c but like the hooks, you can\u2019t help but enjoy them. <i>&#8216;Serpent\u2019<\/i> prospers in the bridge; <i>\u201cShe sleeps underneath the service, consulting with the serpents, she strikes without a purpose.\u201d<\/i> Whilst the matter of a devilish, untrustworthy female is a welcome theme to the typical pop-punk spectrum.<\/p>\n<p>The sappy <i>&#8216;December\u2019<\/i> is a natural sequel to fan favourite <i>&#8216;A Part of Me\u2019<\/i> (and with better vocals) and allows the quintet to give us a break from the buoyant, lively style that plays a major part on <i>&#8216;LNOTGY\u2019<\/i>. Its mellow strings and light acoustic are a worthy addition, albeit a bit too polished.<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>There\u2019s no doubt that <i>&#8216;LNOTGY\u2019<\/i> will divide opinion. Later numbers <i>&#8216;Smooth Seas Don\u2019t Make Good Sailors\u2019<\/i> and <i>&#8216;Rock Bottom\u2019<\/i> are reminiscent of Blink-182 (<i>&#8216;TOYPAJ\u2019<\/i> era) and firmly stick to a winning formula &#8211; something that the \u201chaters\u201d will be quick to point out. Nonetheless, it\u2019s clear <b>Neck Deep<\/b> have fine-tuned the formula down to a tee. From start to finish, it offers larger-than-life hooks and effectively combines it with a simple, infectious and bold instrumentation.<\/p>\n<p><b>Neck Deep<\/b>\u2019s intention was never to redefine the pop-punk genre. The purpose of <i>&#8216;Life\u2019s Not Out To Get You\u2019<\/i> was to prove a point. They could have been a flash in the pan, but having produced an addictive record, <b>Neck Deep<\/b> won\u2019t be disappearing any time soon. Longtime fans will defend this record all the way, and it may even change some sceptic minds (just like me).<\/p>\n<p>In closing, there is a reason why <b>Neck Deep<\/b> have been touted as \u201ckings\u201d of the UK pop-punk scene and <i>&#8216;Life\u2019s Not Out To Get You\u2019<\/i> is the most solid piece of evidence you\u2019ll need to back that fact up. Pop-punk perfection.<\/p>\n<p>4.5\/5<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8216;Life\u2019s Not Out To Get You\u2019<\/i> by <b>Neck Deep<\/b> is released on 14th August on <b>Hopeless Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Neck Deep<\/b> links: <a href=\"http:\/\/neckdeep.co\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a>|<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/neckdeepuk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>|<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NeckDeepUK\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a>|<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/NeckDeepUK\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Sean Reid (<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/SeanReid86\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@SeanReid86<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wrexham pop-punks&#8217; rocket continues to ascend with a collection of pop-punk perfection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[246,4932,1047,12398],"class_list":["post-8485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-hopeless-records","tag-lifes-not-out-to-get-you","tag-neck-deep","tag-sean-reid"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Album Review: Neck Deep - Life&#039;s Not Out To Get You - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wrexham pop-punks&#039; 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