The Neighbourhood have enjoyed an astronomical rise to fame propelled by catchy radio singles like Sweater Weather, but underneath their pop exterior, the band packs an aggressive commentary on the struggles of growing up in an increasingly fractured society. Wiped Out! is an album backed by hip-hop inspired vocals and punchy, guitar-laden tracks. Present in their initial EPs and cemented by songs like Afraid on their first full length album I Love You, the struggles of identity, relationship, and the duplicitous nature of fame saturate lead singer Jesse Rutherford’s lyrics.
The band’s sophomore album Wiped Out!—released on the 30th of October— only serves as a more mature distillation of the themes presented in I Love you. The album’s narrative is grounded in the band’s own anxiety about growing up, and the electric beats and crooning guitars on the album lend an intense and introspective mood to the album. Rutherford’s own honest assessments of his life and the loss of his father appear on tracks like Wiped Out! and Daddy Issues, and serve to highlight the fractured nature of youth. Finishing with the aptly named R.I.P. 2 My Youth, Rutherford ends the album with a melancholy dirge to his lost youth, burying his past self while stumbling forward into the future.