Album Review: Neighbors - Hellomind EP

Hailing from Long Island (NY), Neighbors caught some media attention when their song ‘Bodies’ was featured on a videogame soundtrack, and now release their debut EP ‘Hellomind’ unto the world. Opening track ‘Bodies’ is a tennis match between a heavy bass-driven riff and an atmospheric half-emptiness only disrupted by sustained notes and echoing guitars, letting Ian Kenny’s voice rip through the sound scape. Spastic guitar soloing and some more piano are laden onto the song to build up towards an epic final chorus.

‘Beautiful Birds’ opens as a bluesy number guided by a sultry voice, accompanied by some bar stool piano and resonating guitars, achieving a sound that doesn’t stray too far off Thrice’s more recent style. The guitar turns to distortion and cymbals crash as the band unleash a hard rocking chorus advising us to "call the doctor, call the doctor". The song finds a confident stride between blues-tinged cool to alternative rock amp wrecker before a fuzzy guitar solo battles its way through feedback in what turns out to be a fine moment of musicianship.

'Hallows', in comparison, comes off as a more mid-tempo track. The arrangement is once again very well achieved, and guitar, piano and vocals all work hard at building up the song with every measure before unleashing a group-vocalled chorus set to a backing of some quite tasty guitar licks. The bridge has a few surprises and announces the final chorus with style and edge. Similarly, 'Spoon Fed' is a piano-led ballad that focuses strongly around the emotional intensity Kelly manages to bring to the song. It’s a very short track, but works well as an interlude and a change of pace.

‘Drinking With Friends’ showcases some of the band’s sweetest grooves, bass while the guitar work mixes fuzzy sections and staccato parts powdered with some edgy open-chord strumming and a special jazz organ appearance. The whole song is a smooth ride and all the elements blend together seamlessly until the solo and the song is abruptly brought to an end, leaving us wanting more of it. ‘American Junk’ is a cocktail of reggae-tinged guitars, a catchy yet not generic punk chorus and fuzzed-up guitar jangling. At the two-thirds line, the band lay down soothing echoing guitar tones accompanied by some of the band’s better lyrical efforts, but soon rip the listener away from his comfort to remind him how much they rock.

Neighbors aren’t reinventing anything here, but the tastefulness of the instrumentation and the arrangements compliment their effort to create some exciting alternative rock supported by some fine vocal work. I really do hope, and fully expect to hear more of them soon.

4.5/5

'Hellomind EP' by Neighbors is available now.

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James Berclaz-Lewis