Written by: Jennifer Moglia
On Friday, July 24th, 2020, British pop-punk band Neck Deep released their fourth full-length album, joining 2014’s debut “Wishful Thinking”, 2015’s classic “Life’s Not Out to Get You”, and their most recent effort, 2017’s “The Peace and the Panic.” A classic concept record at its core, “All Distortions Are Intentional” tells the story of a fictional outcast couple and their struggles with existential dread, a lack of purpose, and feeling disconnected, all while falling more in love.
The album opens with “Sonderland”, a fun, pop-leaning track with a soaring chorus and lyrics made to be sung with crowds of people at a show. Similar to “Everything is Ordinary”, Boston Manor’s opening track on 2020’s “GLUE”, it establishes the setting of the record, introducing listeners to the world they are about to enter, preparing them for the journey they are about to embark on. The lyrics aren’t exactly positive, reflective on the state of today’s world, but musically, this is one of the band’s more upbeat tracks.
Next up is “Fall”, the third single released from the album. The transition from the first track is extremely satisfying and is something some fans will listen for again and again every time they come back to this album. While a bit slower and guitar-driven, this is another strong song. Vocalist Ben Barlow sings about the relief of falling into something, and not resisting the urge to, a less chaotic message than the previous track sends.
“Lowlife” was the first single released off of this album back in late February. According to the band, it introduces the two main characters of the album, Jett and his love interest, Alice. It’s an anthem for those of us who feel like outcasts, but aren’t exactly bothered by that fact. With fun, sometimes random-sounding lyrics like “I’m drinking coffee on a trampoline”, this was the perfect choice for a lead single. It introduces listeners to the “new” Neck Deep sound, while still maintaining the sound that got them to where they are today.
The fourth track, “Telling Stories”, includes more of those heavy-hitting choruses that these pop-punk giants are known for, the kind that makes fans just want to get up and dance. This is also one of the stronger songs in terms of Barlow’s vocals, especially towards the end and on the bridge. Long-time fans will notice the growth he has shown up to and including this record, all while keeping the original charm they were introduced to on “Rain in July / A History of Bad Decisions”, the band’s first EPs. This track is also one of the many on this album that feel like a love letter to fans, especially the lyric “it’s not the things you know, it’s the friends you make.”
Serving as the second single from “All Distortions Are Intentional”, “When You Know” sounds just as great in the context of this album as it did when it was first released. Going back to the story of this album’s protagonists, it tells the story of how Jett realized he was in love with Alice. Reminiscent of “Parachute” off of “The Peace and the Panic”, almost as if it was a more matured version of the 2017 track, this is a classic Neck Deep love song, and these truly never
disappoint. The music video is also worth watching, including clips that fans sent in while staying home during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can check that out here.
In my opinion, if there is a lull or weak spot on this record, it would be “Quarry”, the sixth track. Marking the halfway point of the 12-track album, it clocks in at only one minute and 26 seconds, the shortest song on this project. I feel like this can be enjoyed if it is listened to in the context of the album as a whole, interpreted as an interlude of sorts or a transition to the second half of the record, but as a stand-alone track, I just don’t think it holds up.
The energy is kicked back up with “Sick Joke” put out as a single just a few days before the album’s official release date. Its upbeat sound contrasts with the darker lyrics, a common occurrence on this album, discussing themes of existentialism and questioning reality. This definitely has the potential to be one of the more popular singles and songs in general from this record, almost like a pop-punk kids’ version of a “Song of the Summer.”
Track eight, “What Took You So Long”, is another love song, presumably about our two main characters once again. Barlow sings, “I was not me until I discovered you for the first time”, summing up the feeling of being with a person that completes you, and melting the hearts of listeners everywhere. The idea of “finding bliss in...significance” and finding someone who is “the difference” in one’s life is incredibly sweet and heartfelt, and I’ll definitely be going back to this track quite a few times in the future.
Things slow down once again with “Empty House”, a track that isn’t quite acoustic but is softer than the rest of the album. The lyrics look at the feelings of hopelessness and not knowing what to do when it feels as if the world is continuing to spin around you, and you’re stuck not knowing what to do. This is another instance where Barlow’s lyrical and vocal growth is evident and would translate perfectly to a live setting (whenever that is safe, of course).
The final stretch of the album begins with “Little Dove”, another acoustic track. It almost seems to be a brighter outlook on the same subject matter discussed in “Empty House”, reminding the listener that there is indeed a light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how far away it might seem at any point in time. It also touches on the impact that social media and “the digital age” has on people today, proclaiming that “This modern living will slowly kill us / Or bring us together / It's all that anybody talks about”, along with a reference to “scrolling through pictures of other people” in the last verse.
The fourth single and eleventh song on the record, “I Revolve (Around You)”, has been my personal favorite track on this project long before I heard it; I remember “claiming” it the minute the tracklist was released early this year. Completing the trilogy of love songs, most likely about Jett and Alice, it follows the two lovers through darker times while still recognizing how far they’ve come together, all using planetary metaphors. At its core, this is exactly when Neck Deep is great at; fun, pop-leaning pop-punk that makes you want to sing along.
“All Distortions are Intentional” closes with “Pushing Daisies”, one of the longer tracks on the album, but you wouldn’t know it unless you looked at the runtime. In this song, the speaker seems to make peace with the fact that they don’t know everything, and nobody else really does either, realizing that it’s easier to just let things be and live life without worries. This is exactly the kind of message that people need to hear right now, in the midst of so much uncertainty, between an ongoing fight for human rights and the world still hurting from a global pandemic, sometimes it’s best to just take a step back and remember that no one has all of this figured out, and that’s completely okay.
With this album, Neck Deep have proved that they still have the same band their die-hard fans found on Warped Tour or in Hot Topic all those years ago, but that they’ve grown into their new sound, a more matured, polished version of the gritty pop-punk anthems they’ve been known for. “All Distortions Are Intentional” is a fun trip into a not-so-fun world, reminding all of us that there’s always a bright side, even when things seem more gloomy than ever, no matter how hard it is to find.
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