What happens when you throw Foster The People, Lana Del Rey, Audioslave and Gavin DeGraw into a musical blender? Stumped? I don’t blame you!
Until recently, the five-piece indie rock group The Neighbourhood was flying under my radar as well. Coming across the face of the band’s debut EP, “I’m Sorry” was the first I even heard of these California indie-rockers. And in this age of house music with electronic beats and new rappers surfacing every day, I’ve steadily grown more skeptical when it comes to music recommendations.
But The Neighbourhood’s five-track EP defied my expectations, and they are definitely a new band to add to your watch list. This Newbury Park, Calif., group lays down beautiful and complex tracks, effortlessly intertwining bass-heavy beats with slick guitar riffs.
Lead singer Jesse James Rutherford’s hip-hop background gives the album an exciting pace as he flexes his powerful voice, letting the emotion run through him into each track.
I’m usually apprehensive about new bands; it takes me several play-throughs to fully appreciate a new album. This made it all the more impressive when I found myself humming their blog-shaking single “Sweater Weather” on the way to class, stumbling over the words to the infectious “Female Robbery,” and taking the long way home to bump the hip-hop infused “Wires” to full blast.
Listen to this album … trust me. When The Neighbourhood is all over the radio in a year, you’ll already know all the lyrics.