Review Summary: Perspective and its strengths... and weaknesses
‘I Love You’ is a three-word phrase that beckons thought. Whether it be from family, friends, or someone who you truly love, the phrase can leave someone breathless. When approaching The Neighbourhood, one must realise that they aren’t here to send shockwaves through the music industry, nor are they just another local band trying to hit it big; they are here, producing an album based around the album’s name: ‘I Love You’. And with hits and misses, it’s certainly an interesting album.
Opening track ‘How’ creates a sort of ‘cloudy’-esque intro to the album, slowly building to a peak it never quite reaches, but still delivers on what an opening song should do; get the attention of the listener long enough for the second track to play. However, ‘How’ introduces the overall ‘feel’ for the album. Basic drum beats, echoing guitar with a bass backdrop, led by electronic cues and a heavy focus on vocal effects from Jesse Rutherford. Although nothing new and spectacular, it gets the job done, allowing an easy and laid-back listen.
‘Afraid’, although being immature (a common theme amongst the album) in its lyrical content, is delivered well, allowing the line ‘You’re too mean, I don’t like you, *** you anyway’ all the more impact on the listener. Following track ‘Everybody’s Watching Me (Uh Oh)’ provides the same kind of feel as previously mentioned, with the chorus providing reasonable emotion, as does the rest of the song.
Follow-up lead single, ‘Sweater Weather’, is about as radio-friendly as you’re going to get from an album, hence the reason it is currently Double Platinum. With the strings taking a back-seat to the simple drum beat and Rutherford’s lyrical delivery to allow them both to come full force, they provide a catchy and surprisingly fun song, complete with a strings section on the back end of the song that feels well-placed and provides a mix-up to the album.
The same overall statement of drum beat, strings, electronic effect and Jesse Rutherford can be said for ‘Let It Go’, ‘Alleyways’, ‘W.D.Y.W.F.M’… You can see the point here. The album doesn’t do enough to sound… well, different. ‘I Love You’, although good from back to front, is exactly that; good. Nothing more, nothing less. The songs that slightly differentiate from each other stand out (‘Sweater Weather’, ‘Let It Go’), whereas the songs that kind of blend into the rest of the album fly through one ear and out the other without much notice. Special notice can be given to closer ‘Float’ however, providing a mellow end to the record.
‘I Love You’ is a fine record. There is no doubt about that. But what it lives up to with its standout songs, it lacks in its creativity. The album is typical of that for a debut, and although the potential is there, The Neighbourhood failed to pounce on the chance, and we’re left with a fun but repetitive album that leaves much to be desired, but still satisfies when needed.
Positives:
• Feel for the album is catchy and laid-back
• Stand-out songs truly differentiate themselves from the rest
• Jesse Rutherford and co. perform well
Negatives
• Songs tend to sound the same after a while
• The overall sound of the album gets tired
• Songs usually pass by without notice
Recommended Tracks:
• Sweater Weather
• Float
• How
• Afraid
