Album review: ‘Wiped Out!’

The Neighbourhood’s arrival onto the Los Angeles music scene in 2011 was marked with teenage angst supported by a motley mixture of synths and a little too much echoey reverb. The group’s first EPs, particularly “I’m Sorry…,” were reminiscent of the conflicted, hormone-driven era of the late 2000s.

Fast-forwarding to 2015, The Neighbourhood has improved at changing up its downtrodden attitude in its most recent album, “Wiped Out!” The band’s sound is still angsty, but the angst is now backed by a measure of sophistication.

“Wiped Out!” is an album that keeps fans on their toes. The opener, “A Moment of Silence,” is literally 30 seconds of silence that probably cause listeners everywhere to check if their headphones are plugged in.

The concept of a completely silent opener sounds slightly pretentious and gloomy, but that sort of material fits perfectly with The Neighbourhood’s image of anguished sensitivity.

The trademark beach goth vibes begin straight after “A Moment of Silence.” While the band tried before to force a “California chill” attitude with debut album “I Love You.,” the songs in “Wiped Out!” give more variety while still wholeheartedly embracing the black-and-white emotional aesthetic.

Certain tracks stand out because of their effective genre-bending. “Prey” is a fuzzy alt-rock-slash-R&B song in which frontman Jesse Rutherford croons mournfully about a lover slipping away from him. “Wiped Out!,” a track that transforms into hazy R&B, is the perfect song to play during a warm evening at the beach.

The album’s strength is the downtempo anguish pleasantly tempered by upbeat tracks. The uptempo dance vibes of “Greetings from Califournia,” “Daddy Issues” and “Cry Baby,” in particular, rescue the album from being the sing-along version of a 15-year-old boy’s secret diary.

The Neighbourhood’s change in sound is a sign of its maturation and newfound sophistication. In its previous work, downtempo tracks worked best in translating the angst. Now, Rutherford and friends have discovered upbeat songs can convey the same emotion.

The arrangements in “Wiped Out!” play to the group’s strengths. Most of the songs feature swelling instrumentals that remind listeners of the beach – in case they forgot the group is from sunny California. The arrangements are more polished, yet they still add a nostalgic quality, most likely born from the late ’00s mood, to the album that ebbs and flows with Rutherford’s yearning voice.

The only issue is the slightly cringeworthy lyrics. Lyricism has never been the band’s strong suit – think “One love, two mouths / One love, one house / No shirt , no blouse” in “Sweater Weather” – and it’s the one front on which the group hasn’t improved enough.

Even though the songs grapple with heavy-handed topics like heartbreak and death, their lyrics don’t do them justice. Lines like “The sun’s coming out but I’m feeling colder / I can’t wait till the drought is over” from “Cry Baby” smack of seemingly inspirational Tumblr quotes. When the lyrics to “Daddy Issues” – “I’d run away and hide with you / I love that you got daddy issues / And I do too” – are separated from the melody, they just sound strange.

If each song were evaluated with a list containing items like flat lyrics, swooping instrumentals and a chill beach bum attitude, every item would have a check mark next to it.

But at the end of the day, what counts is that the band has figured out how to explore new sounds while maintaining the aesthetic fans know and love it for. If that’s not enough to save The Neighbourhood from the backhanded compliment of “one-hit wonder,” I don’t know what is.

– Shreya Aiyar