In pretty much every review of this album when it came out, it was compared to a horror movie. This was by design; from the album cover to the dark feel of the songs, the band was clearly going for a horror movie aesthetic on Neck of the Woods. Maybe it's because I dislike horror movies, but I found this album to be a significant step back for Silversun Pickups.
One thing the album definitely has going for it: it nails that horror movie feel. Beginning with opener "Skin Graph," Neck of the Woods is consistently eerie and somewhat unsettling in its atmosphere.
However, there's a fundamental problem with this album, and it's a simple one: the songs just aren't very good. The writing is weaker, and sounds and ideas that were fresh on their debut album Carnavas have become stale by this album. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that these are some long songs. Silversun Pickups have always made long songs; it wasn't a problem before when the songs were better, but when you take a decent song and make it too long, it only hurts the song. It's a problem that many artists face: when long songs become their "thing," they often start to make the songs long simply for the sake of being long. The songs on Neck of the Woods drag on far too long, and this can make the album a slog to get through.
That's not to say that the album is without its high points. "Skin Graph" is a solid opener, "Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)" is an excellent, eerie song, and "Out of Breath," is the highlight of the album. Unfortunately, "Out of Breath" is the closer, so it takes a long time to get to that highlight.
The problem here is that the horror movie of these songs works better for individual songs than it does for an entire album, which has its bright spots but can be overly long and tough to get through. Of course, the biggest disappointment is that there's a song called "The Pit" here, but it's an original song, not a Mouse Rat cover.
Grade: C+
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