Neck Deep released a music video for their new song, “Growing Pains”, and I was anticipating some crappy stereotypical cliche vid that I’d be writing about and calling it mediocre- I was wrong. I’d never really listened to the band before so I expected them to be harder and screamier, but the vocalist has a really good voice and the drummer and bassist are really strong.
The video has a cute story line. It almost feels like a scene in Skins, or an old punk scene. Seeing a bunch of guys just hanging out and having fun and being friends is so cool to see, and everyone in the pop punk scene claims it, and don’t quite show it as genuinely as ND did in this video. It’s adorable. The fact that they all went to a roller disco together so their friend could meet a girl is like an 80s movie. It’s so cute and shows their personality.
As for the tune itself, it’s extraordinary. There’s something about the baseline that really keeps it from sounding too poppy. With the drums pounding hard and fast, it makes for a good crowd-pumping song with some moshing and circle pits. Ben’s voice weaves in and out of his accent, but it doesn’t really matter because the quality of it is really interesting. It sounds very much pop-punk, nearly like New Found Glory or Blink but with a bit more of an All Time Low feel, but not in a bad way at all. It’s very pop-friendly, which is really appealing. I can hear this song being done by an earlier Four Year Strong, which is awesome because I miss the more raw and younger-sounding pop punk that’s less hard and screamy, which is how the scene is evolving.
Regardless, I was blown away by how incredibly cute the video and song are. It was a wonderful discovery.