The Neighbourhood is an alternative rock band that has been creating music since before their first EP release in 2012. They leave their identity behind to take the form of Chip Chrome & the Mono-Tones. (Photo Courtesy of Lyric Chassin) (Screenshot taken from Spotify)
The Neighbourhood released their long awaited album, “Chip Chrome & the Mono-Tones”, on September 25. They released their prior album, “Hard To Imagine The Neighbourhood Ever Changing”, in 2018, leaving fans waiting two years for new content. The Neighbourhood is a mainly alternative and indie rock band.
Chip Chrome is the name of the character portrayed by the band’s lead singer– Jesse Rutherford. The futuristic silver man is on the album cover, in the album name, and is the title of the first track on the album. This album is very different from any other one they have created; Rutherford and the rest of the band abandon their identities and replace them with the new band: Chip Chrome & the Mono-Tones.
“Chip Chrome & the Mono-Tones” features 11 songs; the band released 5 of those as individual singles before the initial release of the album. In addition to this, The Neighbourhood also released music videos for three of those singles– “Devil’s Advocate”, “Pretty Boy”, and “Lost in Translation”.
The album features a variety of songs. From fast paced, to slow ballads, to The Neighbourhood’s classic alternative rock roots, there is a song for everyone.
Songs like “Pretty Boy”, “Tobacco Sunburst”, and “Cherry Flavoured” focus on a slower beat with soft singing. These songs are perfect for easy listening and mellow vibes.
The remainder of the songs on the album are closer to the common fast pace in many of The Neighbourhood’s previous songs, although they are still unique to anything they have created before.
“Lost in Translation” starts with a retro-jazz sound byte and transitions into a pop techno sound. Similarly, songs like “BooHoo” and “Silver Lining” incorporate the same upbeat and happy connotation. These songs are definitely more for times when you want to jam out rather than have background music.
To link the album all together, it opens with a 30 second clip on electric sound effects, resembling a start up noise from a movie or video game. It closes with one of the most emotionally rich songs on the album– “Middle of Somewhere”. With a clear guitar strumming throughout the song, “Middle of Somewhere” feels the most real and connecting song on the album. The heartfelt lyrics closes the album perfectly and captures the variety of works The Neighbourhood can create.
Overall, “Chip Chrome & the Mono-Tones” is an amazing album. The incorporation of all different types of genres while still sprinkling in a bit of the classic Neighbourhood style makes it unique to anything else they have released and any other album currently on the market. Everyone should listen to it.
Hi! My name is Lyric and I am a senior editor and the website editor for The Mycenaean. I am also Vice President of Quill and Scroll Society, Makeup Crew Head, and a member of National English Honor Society.