Wishful Thinking

Contemporary pop-punk has been almost exclusively an American phenomenon, but don't tell that to Neck Deep. On their debut album, 2014's Wishful Thinking, the Welsh five-piece plays polished SoCal-style pop-punk complete with a sneering accent that splits the difference between Green Day and blink-182, and you'd have to dig deep to find a U.K. punk band that sounds less like they're from the U.K. than these guys. Neck Deep are certainly tight and powerful here, with Lloyd Roberts and Matt West keeping their guitar parts locked in tight throughout, and drummer Dani Washington revealing some metal-level chops in his bass drum-heavy attack, while vocalist Ben Barlow manages to sound both thoughtful and annoyed whether he's complaining about girls ("Crushing Grief," "Damsel in Distress") or the state of the world ("Zoltar Speaks," "Blank Pages"). Tuneful yet aggressive and performed with impressive technical skill, Wishful Thinking shows Neck Deep can deliver the same sound with the same force as their American contemporaries. ~ Mark Deming