The eponymous debut record by Florida-based rockers Neverless was released on March 15th, and it is highly ambitious and accomplished for a debut. It comprises 12 tracks that flow into one another like a rock opera, making the album a lot more memorable than what the majority of rock bands are releasing nowadays. Let’s break down the elements that make this album what it is.
For starters, the band is not afraid of making 2-minute songs as well as 9-minute ones. The intro track, Enter Scene, gives us a taste of how tight the instrumentation of the album will be, what the guitar tone is like, and the presence of the saxophone as a main element. The song perfectly flows into the following track, Stomp, as if they are the same song. Stomp is a fast-paced and energetic song that’s just under 3 minutes long and brings together elements of Alt Rock, Punk Rock, and Heavy Metal. The drum lines and basslines are fast-paced and chaotic enough to make the song dense and filled with enough substance despite its short duration. Many fast and complex beats match perfectly with the guitar/sax combo that’s leading the song. That combo reaches its pinnacle during the instrumental section in the middle which acts as a solo.
We begin to hear more variety on the following track, Bad Company, which has a slower tempo and more percussive use of the saxophone that’s akin to genres like Ska Punk and Beach Rock, except these guys know how to make it so much heavier and a big part of it is due to their groundbreaking drums. The fifth track, Once And For All, has a lot of 2000s nostalgia that will remind listeners of My Chemical Romance and that’s particularly due to the harsher vocal work in it. It is one of the heaviest, and also my personal favorite, tracks on the record.
Stuck In Place begins with the sound of a car engine failing to start and some other ambient effects, then progresses into being one of the album’s more straightforward tracks. Once again, the band manages to make concise tracks that neither overstay their welcome nor leave something to be missed, especially when you have a shreddy killer guitar solo like the one found on this track. Pheromone is also relatively short, but the first minute of it is a futuristic and ambient intro that has outer space-ish vibes. The rest of the song is more straightforward with a relatively slower tempo than the tracks before it and a groovy bassline that I enjoyed so much.
Think For Yourself begins with a very positive and bluesy/jazzy vibe that’s the first to be found on the album. The heavy guitar riffs and tempo change in the middle of the song are very reminiscent of hardcore punk and the old prototype days of thrash and speed metal. What I didn’t expect though was how they implemented the sax into retro style and mood so well.
Come Alive (In The Dead of Night) has more pop-punk vibes and an amazing use of piano that they added here. The saxophone solo was epic, and so were the screaming vocals. The track is followed by a short interlude and then the track Goin’ Loco begins. It is very special, remarkable, and has more of the fierce bass work that made me fall in love with this album at first listen.
The true turning point of the album was the final track, Edge Of My Dreams, which reminds me a lot of Green Day‘s masterpiece Jesus Of Suburbia, and that’s partly because of its long duration but more so due to how it’s split up into many sections and transitions. After a short intro, the song enters a pink floydian section full of melodic guitar work, and then suddenly they modernize it with their shreddy guitars and complex drumming. After the third minute, the sax and guitars change the melody into a more riff-based and proggy one. The drums play a complex beat and the bass plays softer slower lines, while the vocals take the spotlight for a short while in this section. If you thought the band didn’t have space for making progressive and technical pieces, then think again. This section with the layered vocals and proggy guitars continues until the 7th minute when an epic transition hit me. Percussive sax phrases and a groovier bassline guide this section into a harder and heavier punk-ish outro that once again implements the saxophone as if it has always been a cardinal element of Punk Rock. Following that section, the tempo slows down and we have one last sax solo that wraps up the album gracefully and makes us feel like the band has a style with which they present their substance, and it’s all characteristic to them.
Developing a sound print and a personality to write songs without being repetitive or formulative is no easy task, and on their debut album, Neverless amaze their listeners with a journey between some tracks reliant on rhythm and other that are super melodic all while keeping a thread of common elements and songwriting choices that relate and pertain to the same band and the mentality of the same musicians. I’m putting my highest bet that this band will have an instantly recognizable sound years and years from now, regardless of the number of albums and singles they put out. These guys have given us a larger-than-life and ideal debut release that speaks volumes about their musicianship, and for that, I recommend you all to give it a spin and I promise you won’t regret it.
