Release Date: October 30, 2015
Genre: Alternative Rock, experimental hip-hop
Grade: 7/10
With a borderline obsessive love for all things black, white, and the west coast, five piece band The Neighbourhood debuted in 2012, breaking into mainstream in 2013 with their popular single “Sweater Weather”.
Their sophomore album Wiped Out opens to a literal moment of silence, thirty seconds of dead air that fades into “Prey”, a wave riding beach tune. That capriciousness sets the tone for the rest of the album which includes eleven songs on the track list.
While the California natives have always nursed an atmospheric sound, Wiped Out is much more ambient than the melodies on their last album, I Love You, and the mixtape “#000000 & #FFFFFF” that followed it which tended to be heavier, favoring darker themes.
Even their EPs Thank You and I’m Sorry, both of which preceded I Love You, stayed mostly true to that stylized moodiness. Lead singer Jesse Rutherford’s youthful, unburdened vocals have always contrasted nicely with the melodramatic harmonies on past records; here, it finds a comfortable rhythm for the blasé sound they are experimenting with.
The band has always done best weaving an alternative rock foundation with bold and sexually expressive elements of Hip-Hop/R&B, but this time around the beats are not as congested. Wiped Out is more of a cloudy day at the beach than an emotionally hysterical midnight drive.
The title track, “Wiped Out”, is dedicated to the languid sameness of the tracks that follow it. However, several songs on the tail end of the album like “Greetings from Califournia” and “Baby Came Home 2/Valentine” attempt to inject some new blood into that slightly edgy monotony, but the real ammunition doesn’t come until the very end.
“R.I.P. 2 My Youth”, which is the first single and also closes the sophomore album out, is deceptively upbeat. It is also one of the few songs on the album that mirrors the cynical storytelling and energetic style of their last album.
On this track, Rutherford’s vocals are sitting on top of the beat as opposed to drifting just below it—as they are for much of the songs on Wiped Out. Over all, it is a solid follow up to I Love You, but isn’t nearly as dynamic and daring as the latter.
Zhana Johnson
Senior Features Editor