The Warped Tour is hot, long and loud. For Wrexham, U.K. pop-punk act Neck Deep—who have just wrapped up their second stint on the largest traveling music festival in the United States—the best way to recover after a summer on the road is to get directly back on the road. The band is contrasting their high-capacity, high-volume Warped Tour sets with a small acoustic tour in support of their new record, “Life’s Not Out to Get You,” and they’ll play Gallery of Sound in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, Aug. 13.

“I guess it’s kind of going on tour,” said Neck Deep vocalist Ben Barlow. “I feel like we’re not because we just come off Warped Tour, but I guess it kind of still is a tour. We’re definitely going to have less gear, we’re definitely downsizing the van and, yeah, it’ll be nice and easy. It won’t be car parks and parking lots and shit—it’ll actually be in the city, so we’ll get to have a little look around as tourists which is cool.”

Barlow grew up on pop-punk from the United States. Bands like Blink-182, New Found Glory and Jimmy Eat World all came together to impress his young mind. Barlow started listening to the genre before he was 10. The foundation laid all those years ago is what Barlow and Neck Deep have built “Life’s Not Out to Get You” upon, and he’s excited to share the end result with the world.

“Our inspiration was kind of just, ‘let’s take it back to our roots (and) write music that we love listening to,’ which was classic pop-punk,” Barlow said. “I guess we kind of went for that vibe really. Instead of trying to do something different with the genre (we) just kind of did the same thing, which in a way is kind of doing something different. We focused on making it as good as we possibly could (and) it came out awesome. I’m stoked—I think it’s some of the best stuff we’ve ever written and I can’t wait for people to hear the rest of it.”

Neck Deep fans will have a chance to hear the rest of it when “Life’s Not Out to Get You” hits stores on Aug. 14, but fans in Wilkes-Barre will have a chance to hear it earlier than everybody else—albeit acoustically—at Gallery of Sound the day before.

“The idea is we always try to get in-stores, but we have a great relationship with (Neck Deep’s label) Hopeless Records,” Gallery of Sound co-owner Joe Nardone Jr. said. “We’ve been one of their partners for a long time and they always seem to take care of us. Luckily they’ve signed some good artists, so we’ve had some great in-stores. Neck Deep is a band on the rise. They were just on Warped Tour, but this is a good chance to get right up close and personal.”

Neck Deep is going to be a man short on the acoustic tour—bassist Fil Thorpe-Evans will miss the U.S. leg—but they’ll still feature a full acoustic sound with two guitars and added percussion when they take the stage. Barlow said he’s looking forward to taking it easy after Warped Tour. Neck Deep is touring with a different look, different gear, a different show and a new record they’re extremely proud of. Barlow and his bandmates get to be tourists instead of parking lot loiterers, and Neck Deep fans get an experience they won’t get from any other Neck Deep show.

IF YOU GO

What: Acoustic show by U.K. band Neck Deep

Where: Gallery of Sound Mundy St.

When: 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13

How Much: Free! Pre-orders of “Life’s Not Out to Get You” on CD or black LP at Gallery of Sound or galleryofsound.com (choose ‘in-store pickup’ for shipping) will come with a wristband for entry. After all banded customers are taken care of, non-banded patrons will be admitted into the event until it reaches capacity.

Reach Gene Axton at 570-704-3943 or on Twitter @TLArts

By Gene Axton

gaxton@timesleader.com

Wrexham, U.K. pop-punk band Neck Deep will play a special acoustic show at Gallery of Sound on Mundy St. as part of their album release tour for their latest record, “Life’s Not Out to Get You.”
http://www.theweekender.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_2NECKDEEP-by-Tom-Barnes-1-MAIN.jpg.optimal.jpgWrexham, U.K. pop-punk band Neck Deep will play a special acoustic show at Gallery of Sound on Mundy St. as part of their album release tour for their latest record, “Life’s Not Out to Get You.” Tom Barnes|Submitted photo