On September 25, the american indie rock band The Neighbourhood released their fifth studio album. With an alternative aesthetic, “Chip Chrome and The Mono-Tones” has eleven songs, an alter-ego of Jesse Rutherford and a brand new era of the band to show.
- About the songs
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Among the productions that features the album is the single “Middle Of Somewhere”, released last year together with its music video. The song is already one of the highlights of the album, with a predominant acoustic guitar melody.
The album comes with “Chip Chrome” and “The Mono-Tones” with an interlude vibe, followed by “Pretty Boy”, a soft melody with a more romantical lyric. After them comes “Lost In Translation”, the last release before the album itself and that already has a music video, just as “Cherry Flavoured” and “Devil’s Advocate”. “Hell or High Water” — that has been compared by some fans to Sponge Bob’s opening melody — actually has a lyric related to emotional issues and trying to overcome obstacles. “Boo-Hoo”, “Silver Lining” and “Tobacco Sunburst” are part of the completely new ones, and join the last names of this list of compositions described by Rutherford as something that “might be a happier version of The Neighbourhood”, due to the major chords that bases most of the songs.
- Who is Chip Chrome?
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The whole concept of this album is connected to the idea of creating an identity that goes beyond the already known The Neighbourhood style. That’s when we meet Chip Chrome, a kind of alter-ego of the vocalist Jesse Rutherford, and the Mono-Tones, that are like a metaphor for the voices and thoughts in Chip’s head and are played by Jeremy Freedman, Zach Abels, Mikey Margott and Brandon Fried, the other members of the band.
Although he is naming this specific album, Chip Chrome has “joined the band” more than a year ago, with the release of “Middle of Somewhere”. By that time, the album wasn’t announced yet, but Rutherford already showed up with the silver painted clothes (and skin) that build Chip’s personality. He was directly inspired by Ziggy Stardust, a character incorporated by the rockstar David Bowie.
As a matter of fact, creating these characters was a way Jesse Rutherford found to bring something new to The Neighbourhood. In one of the interviews he gave about the album, he explains: “I wanted to do something that felt fun and entertaining, and that wasn’t just like a normal me. I didn’t want to show you five white guys in blue jeans, just doing whatever. We’ve seen that so much!”, the singer said at that time.
- The critics
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Just like anything that comes up with new patterns in the music industry, the fans opinions about the album seems to be mixed between positive and negative ones — although the positives still stand out, showing a public mostly aligned with The Neighbourhood’s growth.
Some points of the album are similar to the previous releases, and kept the vibe of “Hard To Imagine” and “Wiped Out!”, for example. Others are really innovative, just like the new aesthetic that involves all this Chip Chrome narrative, that are great compositions but can be a shot in the dark when we talk about fan’s approval. If this new era doesn’t match with your taste, some songs probably won’t be in your playlist as well. On the other hand, if you identify with the cosmos of this thematic production and all the new aspects around the complex and unique personality of the album, most of these eleven sounds will surely be listened to on repeat.
After all, there’s only one way to know if “Chip Chrome and The Mono-Tones” is going to be music to your ears: listening to it on your favorite platform!
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This article was edited by Amanda Oestreich.
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