Only Thieves- 'Heartless Romantics'
Gravelly vocals? Lashings of guitar? Warm fuzziness and a big ole' hit of Americana? Yes, we like all of this. Thankyou, Only Thieves. You've sorted out our itching for a nice slice of nostalgia-laden power-punk a treat.
Their debut album 'Heartless Romantics' is bursting to it's Star Spangled brim with bold, brightly burning sound and strongly asserted themes and ideas. It is at one moment the kind of comforting noise you'd want to envelope you as you took another swig of bourbon in the darkness of that rock n' roll bar in a film. 'The Ballad of the Aluminum Girl' would make the perfect soundtrack to many a depressed scene of drowned sorrows . But then the next minute you'll be listening to 'Discoveries' and it'll be a sunny morning driving through the sprawling scenery on the great open road to nowhere. Or... it'll sound like some guys doing brilliant things with guitars. Suppose it totally depends on how well trained your imagination is I guess.
They seem to have gone quite pick n' mix on their influences, with vocals bringing to mind a gruffer take on The Replacements brand of polished garage punk. Coincidentally, Only Thieves also have a track called 'Unsatisfied' on this record, although it's somewhat more high energy and spiky than the track of the same name from the 1980s. Then, if you look a bit further, there's some of the fuzzy scuzz of the rock n' roll sound of The Only Ones and a touch of the punk attitude the likes of The Undertones were belting out once upon a time. Pretty good so far, eh.
But despite those two great British influences, unsurprisingly (being from Tallahassee and all) the overwhelming flavour of this record is right from the ole' U.S of A. Yes, it's as American as a slab of ranch-raised beef served on the face of a plaid-wearing cowboy on his way to a rodeo. Or something. As soon as 'All The Sad Young Men' kicks in you may double check to make sure you hadn't popped The Hold Steady into your CD player by accident. There's plenty of warm low-fi guitar haziness we've seen revived by bands like Lemuria in recent years, and then of course there's the glaring influence of The Gaslight Anthem in there. Only Thieves share plenty with these new American heroes. 'Register' and 'Pioneer Repair' are tracks to showcase that swaggering confidence within catchy, upbeat riffing and exultant choruses to produce a strong and passionate brand of power-rock we've seen reinvigorated by Brian Fallon and co. in recent years.
As you might be able to tell, 'Heartless Romantics' is not really breaking new ground. However, Only Thieves are most certainly building on the foundations laid by some of the most striking bands we have seen erupt on the scene of late. It's a difficult challenge to have taken on and to get right, but judging by this debut effort, it's one that they're managing really rather well.