From left to right: Bryan, Mikey, Jesse, Zach, and Jeremy.
Not pictured: Brandon, As he wasn't in the band at this point.
Not pictured: Brandon, As he wasn't in the band at this point.
Use the sleeves on my sweater
Let's have an adventure
Head in the clouds but my gravity's centered
Let's have an adventure
Head in the clouds but my gravity's centered
— "Sweater Weather"
The Neighbourhood is an American (yes, American) Alternative Rock group formed in August 2011. They're known for their moody, often dark songs, and their black, white, and gray aesthetics in their music videos and albums.
Band Members
- Jesse Rutherford (lead vocals) 2011-Present
- Jeremy Freedman (guitars) 2011-Present
- Zach Abels (guitars) 2011-Present
- Mikey Margott (bass) 2011-Present
- Brandon Fried (drums) 2014-Present
- Bryan Sammis (drums) 2011-2014
The Neighbourhood Discography
- I'm Sorry... (2012)
- Thank You, (2012)
- I Love You. (2013)
- The Love Collection (2013)
- #000000 & #FFFFFF (2013)
- Wiped Out! (2015)
- HARD (2017)
- TO IMAGINE (2 1M4G1N3) (2018)
- The Neighbourhood (2018)
- Ever Changing (2018)
- Chip Chrome & the Mono-Tones (2020)
Troped Out!
- Being Watched: "Everybody's Watching Me (Uh-Oh)", which is this trope either on a literal level or as a metaphor for fame.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: "W.D.Y.W.F.M.?" is about a relationship with one, who apparently "took control" before the singer could break up with her.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Their album artwork and their music videos.
- Destructive Romance: "Ferrari":"You and I are two oceans apart
We're on earth to break each others hearts" - Disappeared Dad: Implied in "R.I.P. 2 My Youth". "Tell my sister don't cry and don't be sad / I'm in paradise with Dad."
- And outright stated in "Daddy Issues", which is about Jesse and a girl bonding over their shared issues with their dads.
- Epic Instrumental Opener: "How".
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: "A Moment of Silence" is a 30-second track of... well guess.
- False Friend: The singer's friends in "Afraid" always lie to him... maybe.
- Fan Community Nickname: Fans (and the band itself) generally call the fan community "hoodlums".
- Fun with Acronyms: Averted by "W.D.Y.W.F.M?", which stands for "What Do You Want From Me?", but does not spell a word itself.
- Growing Up Sucks: "R.I.P. 2 My Youth", which compares growing up to dying.
- And "Alleyways", which is about growing up and realizing that you've lost part of yourself along the way.
- Heartbeat Soundtrack: The drums of "R.I.P. 2 My Youth" turn into the rhythm of a heartbeat, which fades away at the end of the song.
- Hope Is Scary: "Cry Baby", which is about the singer struggling not to fall in love again after being hurt before, but eventually deciding that if they both admit their feelings things will work out in the end.
- Idiosyncratic Cover Art: All of their album artworks feature a symbol consisting of an upside-down house, save for the "Sweater Weather" single.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Their first two EPs, I'm Sorry... and Thank You, and their first studio album, I Love You., are all simple, common phrases people speak to each other in everyday life, followed by punctuation.
- The Insomniac: "Staying Up" is about one, who can't sleep because of all the bad dreams he has, and the fear that there's something out there.
- Intercourse with You: "A Little Death".
- "Sweater Weather" though not entirely about it, seemed to head in that direction judging by the lyrics.
- Just Friends: "The Beach" is about the singer struggling with whether to tell a close friend of his that he has romantic feelings for her.
- Letters 2 Numbers: "R.I.P. 2 My Youth".
- Love Hurts: "Prey", where getting a Relationship Upgrade just made things worse. "It all hurts, it all hurts just the same."
- Loving a Shadow: In "Flawless", the singer falls in love with a girl because she was 'flawless', and found out once they were in a relationship that he couldn't love her because (being a person) she wasn't perfect.
- Lucky Charms Title: "$ting"
- Lyrical Dissonance: While most of their songs sound upbeat, their lyrics are often anything but, often talking about Sanity Slippage or worry.
- Missing Mom: In "Baby Came Home 2", instead of the usual Disappeared Dad. "Mommy's gone and Daddy's doing his best."
- Non-Appearing Title: "Female Robbery", "Sweater Weather", and "Baby Came Home 2 / Valentines".
- Obsession Song: In "Baby Came Home", the singer gets more and more possessive of the girl he's involved with, repeating "She's mine, she's mine" even after she tells him to stay away.
- One-Steve Limit: They chose to spell "The Neighbourhood" the British way so they wouldn't be confused with "The Neighborhood", an already existing band who spelled it the American way.
- Parental Abandonment: Jesse's father left his family and then died, which is a theme in several of their songs.
- Poke the Poodle: When Bryan was asked
what the most despicable thing he'd even done was, he reluctantly admitted that... he'd once graffitied stick figures and smiley faces on a park.note CDM: Smiley faces are pretty despicable.
BRYAN: Yeah, I’m super hardcore. - Precision F-Strike: "Afraid", "Alleyways", "W.D.Y.W.F.M.?" and "Flawless". Like CHVRCHES and The 1975, while iTunes gives "Afraid" an "EXPLICIT" tag, they don't for any other song.
- Sanity Slippage Song: "Afraid" and "Female Robbery".
- Sequel Song: Subverted. "Baby Came Home 2" doesn't have any connection to the earlier song "Baby Came Home".
- Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: In "R.I.P. 2 My Youth":"I was naive and hopeful and lost
Now I'm aware and driving my thoughts" - Sir Swears-a-Lot: Jesse.
- Song Style Shift: After the second chorus, "Sweater Weather" suddenly stops in its tracks and comes back with a slower sound.
- Speaking Like Totally Teen: All of them, really, but Jesse especially.
- Stalker without a Crush: The kidnappers in "Female Robbery" "Went everywhere I go / Walked into the store right behind me / Stood in line right beside me and followed me to my home".
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Mixed with Married to the Job; "Softcore" deals with the bandmates' struggles to conciliate their love life with their on-the-road career as musicians, and how these problems can deteriorate their relationships without meaning it.
- Tattoo as Character Type: Jesse and his girlfriend in "Baby Came Home 2", who "Got our names tattooed on each other / Just to prove to each other / That we'd do what we said."
- Textless Album Cover: I Love You.
- Through the Eyes of Madness: It's difficult to tell what's the truth in "Afraid", considering the singer's paranoia and anxiety talking.
- The immensely ominous music of "Female Robbery" definitely implies that someone really should call the police, even though the singer says not to and that he knows he'll be fine.
- The Stoner: Their three essentials on the tour bus include: weed, water, and wi-fi.
- Unrequited Love Lasts Forever: "Greetings From California":"Handcuffed and I thought of you
Made love and I thought of you
My Daddy died and I just thought of you"
