The Neckbones | |
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Origin | Oxford, Mississippi |
Genres | Garage punk |
Years active | 1994-2001 |
Labels | Fat Possum Records |
Past members | David Boyer, Robbie Alexander, Tyler Keith, Forrest Hewes |
The Neckbones were a garage punk band from Oxford, Mississippi. They released two albums: Souls on Fire (1997) and The Lights Are Getting Dim (1999), both on Fat Possum Records.
The band's members first began playing together as the Neckbones in the fall of 1994. While the band was active, they were the only rock group signed to Fat Possum Records—the other bands on the label were all blues groups. They recorded their debut album, Souls on Fire, in 1996, but it was not released until the following year due to Fat Possum Records' legal issues. The band released its second and last album, The Lights are Getting Dim, in 1999, and disbanded in 2001. Tyler Keith, the group's guitarist, subsequently formed the group "Tyler Keith and the Preacher's Kids", which released an album entitled "Romeo Hood" in 2001.
Robert Christgau reviewed Souls on Fire and gave it an A-. In his review, Christgau compared the band's music favorably to that of Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments. A review of the album for MTV described the album's music as "the greasy, ballsy kind of rock ‘n’ roll that most bands have either forgotten or abandoned." Writing in Billboard, Chris Morris described the album as "a steaming slab of raving punk rock served up southern-fried".
A review of The Lights are Getting Dim in CMJ compared the band's style to that of Iggy Pop and the Ramones, and praised the band's displays of humor on the album. However, the review also said that the album's music is "unlikely to win over fans looking for a more arcane musical experience." Anthony Mariani wrote in Houston Press that the album was "stuffed with solid tunes". Mike Joyce of the Washington Post reviewed the album favorably, writing that on it, "roadhouse collides with garage, producing a reckless and clangorous hybrid that celebrates the quartet's punk leanings."