Neck Deep - Wishful Thinking (Album Review)

January is here and 2014 is in full swing. It's rare that this early in the year a couple of my more anticipated albums are being released. Neck Deep happen to have one of those. Wishful Thinking, the band's new album, is the debut album from the UK pop/punk group.

I was a big fan of the EP's the group released prior to this album. This album finds the group signing with powerhouse indie label Hopeless Records who is responsible for launching the careers of bands like All Time Low and The Dangerous Summer. The first thing I noticed on track 1 on the new Neck Deep album is that the group has stepped up and improved their production and songwriting on Wishful Thinking. The album sounds crisp and clean. This is a great sounding pop/punk record. It is perfectly produced for the sound. I really like the way the guitars were recorded and mixed. This is mostly faced paced pop/punk that has driving drums with quick and melodic guitars. I always feel like due to the sing-a-long-able nature of pop/punk the vocals are really important and this album has some really great vocal work and really good lyrics.

"Sweet Nothings" is pop/punk gold. The song has an awesome pace and it's one of the better written pop/punk songs I've heard in a while. It is definitely one of the best songs Neck Deep has written. I could see the song being a big fan favorite. It screams single to me. The band ends the album with "Candour" which is a little slower and moodier than most of the upbeat driving tracks found on the album. I really like the build up in the songs and the way it ends. The instrumentation sounds really good. Lyrically the album as a whole is really good. It has some good emotional depth while offering a ton of sing-a-long-able lyrics.

Neck Deep has one of the more impressive debut albums from a pop/punk act I've heard in a while. It has everything I'd really want to hear in a pop/punk album. I've played it straight through a few times and it flows great and to me it doesn't have any songs that I think should be skipped. It's early in 2014, but I'm willing to bet I'll listen to this album a lot this year. I have a feeling this will be one of the better pop/punk albums you'll hear this year. I would recommend the group to fans of The Story So Far, Save Your Breath, A Loss For Words, etc... Definitely check this one out because it's a really cool album.