Throwback Beats, Future Vibes: The Good Neighbours Are the Soundtrack You Need

October 14, 2024

3:32 pm

Photos / @JenaCumbo

In a music scene brimming with nostalgia and fresh energy, The Good Neighbours, have carved out a distinct sonic space that merges the euphoric sounds of the 2000s indie wave with a modern edge. UK duo Oli Fox and Scott Verrill are influenced by the likes of Passion Pit, MGMT, and Empire of the Sun. The pair describe their music as a coming-of-age soundtrack for their teenage years, tapping into the expansive, synth-heavy vibes of an era that shaped their youth. Their latest work reflects that same vibrant spirit, while also embracing unique production processes that capture raw, in-the-moment creativity. As they gear up to release their newest EP, they’re excited to provide fans with a cohesive record that blends their signature nostalgic touch with something fresh, fun, and endlessly singable.

Scott (left) wears Shirt, Acne Studios Tshirt, his own Jeans, Calvin Klein Oli wears Top, Versace Jeans, Levis Shoes Dr Martens

You’ve spoken in the past about the euphoria of the 2000s indie bands like Passion Pit, MGMT, and Empire of the Sun- what were you up to when those bands were big? What time of your life does this sound bring up for you?

That era soundtracked our teenage years and was our coming-of-age soundtrack. It felt like a forgotten era of music that we had never mentioned, and then one day, we went back and realized we had all of those bands in common.

You have also said you’ve put A24 films on silent when you write your music. What films did you put on when making this new EP?

For us, A24 is like a lucky dip bag of beautiful scenes to write music to—they all have some level of emotion to tap into. We like the coming-of-age ones in particular—I can remember we wrote ‘Keep It Up’ to the one main scene from the movie Close on a never-ending loop.

There is such a fun and familiar sound to your music; it’s almost like we can begin singing along as soon as we hear the first verse and chorus. When you write your songs, is it your goal to write melodies that people can sing along to?

Not particularly. But we do love using quite block-coloured melodies for our choruses as we tend to deep-dive on production, so you don’t want to overcomplicate. My favorite feeling is if someone can sing the chorus when you get to the second chorus, so I’m glad people feel like the songs are heading that way.

What are some of your favorite songs that also have this instant ‘sing-along’ feel that may have perhaps inspired you?

I’d have to say anything on our pre-gig playlist is up there. Walking on a Dream by Empire of the Sun is a firm favorite.

Covers—We love your covers of Espresso and Time To Pretend. How do you choose your cover songs, and what song would you love to cover in the future?

Honestly, we never planned to dabble with covers. When we got asked to be on Triple J for the ‘Like a Version,’ it’s been on our bucket lists since we were about 16, so it was a no-brainer. It’s cool that people have so much fun with them, but we want to crack on with our stuff, and if a cover feels right and spontaneous, then we will jump for it.

Your songs’ production sounds unique. How did you solidify this sound, and what inspired it?

Honestly, it’s quite a scatty process for us, which I think is a huge part of how the production sounds—for the most part, it’s trying to bottle up the energy in the room as quickly as we can before we lose it, so there’s a lot of phone recording and working with whatever the closest tool available to us is.

You said that you wrote the chorus of Home before the rest of the song because it was going viral on TikTok. Do you frequently test out parts of songs on your social media before committing to writing the songs in their entirety? Have you ever decided not to finish a song because fans didn’t respond?

We only post something we’re super confident in, so the interaction just lets us know if we should shuffle round release plans and release it sooner. Our fans have been nothing but nice to us online.

Reading the comments on your performances and songs, people seem very nostalgic for the 2000s and 2010s. What do you think was special about that time that people are connecting to?

There was a huge sonic movement around that time, using expansive synths and melodies in a way that broke the mold of a lot of the intricate pop that was around at the time. I think we’re seeing a similar trend with ourselves. It feels like people want a caveat to the bedroom pop, and hopefully, we’re filling that gap with big sounds.

What is your favorite fashion trend of the 2000s/2010s and one that you hope will never come back into style?

I hate to say it but I think skinny jeans are on the way back in with the whole indie sleaze thing. Maybe give it 2/3 years. I’d say as long as those Kanye West shutter aviators never come back then the indie scene will be a safe place….

When listening to music, are there genres that we would be surprised to know that you are drawn to? What are some contemporary bands that you like?

I don’t know about surprising, but we often both listen to our original influences from when we were growing up. For me, Motown was a huge part of that. I love a huge chorus and feel like I want to bring that into Good Neighbours.

You recently toured the US. What city would you want to move to? Which had the best food? Which fans were the most fun?

I’d say we both would move to New York in a heartbeat – it’s got everything good about London on a huge and more dramatic scale. But England doesn’t even come close to the Mexican food we had in the US – that stuff slaps over there.

We never imagined we would get the chance to visit Denver, but it was also amazing—the people were so lovely, and the show we played there had just good vibes, so we’re buzzing to go back.

What are you the most excited for with the release of this EP, and what else do you have on the horizon?

I guess people finally have a cohesive record they can spin and spin and spin. It’s a joy to be able to give early fans that. On the horizon are a lot more gigs, and who knows, maybe more new music, too.