ALBUM REVIEW: Don’t Panic – Neckscars

NECKSCARS were born in 2018 when four veterans of the New York DIY scene came together to see what happened. There were no specific stylistic intentions, just a desire to make diverse and interesting music. The results, presented on their debut full-length Don’t Panic, ended up taking the form of mature and melodic punk rock. Whether it passes for diverse is debatable, but either way if you like bands like HOT WATER MUSIC and PROPAGANDHI you should be happy enough here.

The album opens in pretty standard fashion with In Front Of Me. It’s a solid, melodic piece which sets up a strong opening run. Born Sick and Jarring which follow elevate things further, providing back-to-back early highlights. Both feature big sing-along hooks, and pick up the energy a touch from the opener. Fourth track Unfinished is more downbeat by contrast, but this still erupts into a catchy gang vocal sing-along in its second half. After this, Not Enough JPM’s rounds out this strong first half with another high-energy melodic punk track.

Plenty more sing-alongs follow throughout Don’t Panic. Frontman Will Romeo’s vocals are gruff and smoky, but they’re still capable of delivering a memorable hook. Even arguably more throwaway tracks like Temporary and Loaded have choruses which should still stick in listeners’ heads for a good while afterwards. It helps too that guitarist Justin Parish often adds a second layer of melody with his higher backing vocal harmonies. Lyrically, the band deal mostly in typical slacker and loser anthems. Lines like “I was born sick” and “I’m just thinking about how I’m gonna let you down” are hardly the most original in the world, but are still sure to strike a chord with plenty of proud punk rock deadbeats.

With pretty much all the tracks sitting around the three minute mark, Don’t Panic runs along at a solid pace. One regular highlight of the record is Parish’s lead guitar work. This is rarely particularly flashy, but it does add another welcome layer to the band’s punky sound. There are a few tracks where Parish gets a chance to properly let rip as well – perhaps most impressively on the aforementioned third track Jarring.

One criticism of Don’t Panic is that it occasionally feels like NECKSCARS could do with a little more bite. The New Yorkers may have the melodic stuff locked down, but it’s when they try and go a bit darker that things can feel a touch lacking. For example, eighth track Running Man hints at something more menacing in its verses, but this never amounts to much. It’s not an awful track, it just doesn’t quite stand up among its catchier counterparts.

Overall however, you’re unlikely to get particularly bored or frustrated with Don’t Panic. At just over 30 minutes, this record doesn’t outstay its welcome, and always moves along with a good degree of urgency. Closing tracks Let You Down and First Time, Long Time wrap things up on a high. Neither throw up any huge surprises, but the execution of both is still of a strong enough standard. That pretty much sums up the record itself as well. It doesn’t do much to break the mould, but its ten tracks prove NECKSCARS as a consistently safe pair of hands when it comes to energetic and hook-heavy punk rock.

Rating: 7/10

Don’t Panic is set for release on June 18th via Sell the Heart Records (US) and Engineer Records (UK).

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