October Album of the Month

This album feels like it’s been a long time coming – but, rest assured, what’s about to land is well worth the wait.
At this time of year, picking just one album a month to review is tough. There’s so many releases coming thick and fast, and there’s many really good ones for October and November. ‘Best’ has always been a bit of a nebulous term for me – everyone likes different things, and so they should. For a busy release month like this, I’ve stood back and tried to pick something that makes a statement. I’m not drawn in by the hype-machine that some bands are lucky to have, nor the tribal allegiances that are all too prevalent on social media (bands are not football teams). It has to be only about the recorded music, the merits of any given album – and the feelings or reaction it evokes. Thieves of Liberty’s bold debut album stood tall for me, because of the strength and intensity of the music and the sense you get from what lies beneath the notes. With good albums, there is always a feeling behind what you actually hear.
Thieves of Liberty have been regulars on my rockshow for years; I think we’ve been with them pretty much since the start, long before they were cool kids to add to a playlist. They’ve had a number of songs over the years that have had long runs on the rockshow, they’ve featured many times in our Band of the Month shortlists, they appeared on the Modern Rock project and also our Band of the Year Top 20. This has been powered by the natural reaction of listeners, the music commands attention.
Add to this though, and it matters, the band turns up. They get in touch direct, they turn up for interviews, they chat with rockshow listeners on socials – and they send me singles early. And yes when it comes to album reviews I got sent their album dead early. I don’t chase for review copies anymore, I work with what comes in, and maybe Thieves of Liberty enjoyed an advantage this month in the sense that I got their album so early I had a chance to really give it time before calling who’d bag Album of the Month. Albums often need time to grow on you and by the time other album review copies started landing, I already regarded the Thieves album as a trusty old friend, like a comfortable pair of slippers.

Before going into the tracks, what I love about this album is its sense of honesty and fun. Fun for some is uncool, un-macho and maybe even ‘un-rock’ – but ‘Shangri-La’ is a really enjoyable album – and the point of music, ultimately, is to have fun and enjoyment.
From the interviews I’ve done with the band over the years – and the few times I’ve seen them live – there’s always such a strong sense of youthful excitement from the boys. There’s always funny gags during the interviews, and you can’t miss the smiles when they’re on stage. In short, the band loves playing, they love writing and its obvious they feel excited by the journey. It’s very similar to the sense of unbridled fun I picked up with the original line-up of Unknown Refuge. It’s positive, exciting and infectious – exactly what young bands should be bringing to the scene – and, dare I say it, an energy that can make us oldies feel young again for a moment.
Set against a music scene where the marketing seems to be fast overtaking the importance of the music, a landscape where brands seem to be more important than bands – this context makes the impact of a young band having fun all the more powerful. Forget the bots, the chasing numbers and affirmation on socials, the auto-tune and the pitch correct – the very essence of rock n roll should be the unpolluted visceral sense of people banging out the songs they love without compromise. And this is joyfully what you get on this album.
But beyond character there’s also talent and this is clear to experience on this album. The singer, James, for me has one of the best voices in rock. He’s always reminded me of the guy from The Commitments movie. Nothing is held back, there is attack, there is great range and there’s feeling. Add to this the axemen, Kieran and Liam. This album is oozing dominant guitar riffs and really good solos. In so many of the great rock bands of yesteryear, it’s the pairing of a great voice with a technically great guitarist that defines a great band. Thieves of Liberty have both. There’s a lot of talent on show on this album – but crucially the presentation of talent is never laboured or showy.
Onto the style, well let’s be clear this is route-one classic rock. If you like Van Halen, Bon Jovi and Queen you’ll like this. And the band this album really reminded me of was Extreme. More on that later.
For one, I’ve so often pushed the need for modern rock over classic rock, I think it’s so important that a new generation of bands are seen to be more than a pastiche on the past – and classic rock itself isn’t a genre of music, it’s an era of music, with classic added as a prefix in the days after mainstream radio stopped playing rock. All that said, there’s nothing wrong with young bands playing classic rock when it’s done very well. And this album brings the fun – it’s a record to turn up loud and enjoy how good and alive rock can make you feel.
So let’ get on to the tracks now…
‘Shangri-La’ opens, a song that needs no introduction to Friday rockshow listeners, having enjoyed a long run with us. An assured stadium-rock sound with big voice, big choruses and soaring guitars. A great start, followed in short order by another slice of melodic hard rock with ‘Sick Pup.’ A big nod to 80s rock. but Thieves of Liberty do it so well. The guitar silo flies on this one in the second half of song, after which the band build it up for a big finish.
Up next its ‘Cherry Queen.’ As with many tracks on this album, the strong riffs again anchor the songs. Dave Lee and Eddie, Slash and Axl – also with Thieves, the combo of strong vocal and dominant catchy guitar riffs dominate this band’s sound. Many of the songs are variations on a theme but with some albums that’s just fine. ‘Cherry Queen’ is built for the stage, a song to get hot and sweaty to – and jump around to at a show.
‘Casual Tragedy’ offers a bit of funk. I’m drawn to Queen and particularly Extreme with this one, probably because of the harmonic choruses. A good song. One that could potentially live on airwaves and playlists beyond the tramlines of classic rock singles. A really enjoyable track, the flavours of classic Queen harmonies playing out later in the guitar work. And there’s a sax thrown in too, matron. Only a few songs in, and a really good feature of this album is the guitar solos are given the room to fully develop and express.
This autumn is possibly shaping up to be the season of the rock bunny rabbits. Wagons are doing a rabbit hole with their forthcoming album – and so are Thieves of Liberty. Whilst the backing vocals are good, with this one I felt lead vocals didn’t need too many of them. James hits the notes and sometimes enjoying that power and range on its own is enough.
‘Until The End’ teases a change of tone and pace with its acoustic stripped-back opening. Just as you reach for the joss sticks for the story-telling and atmospheric mood, it all switches after 90 seconds as the rock comes in. The surprise change almost fools you in a good way. This one’s not a straight rocker, nor is it a tearful ballad – it segues between the two and that makes the song interesting. Possibly the best song on the album.
We’re moving into the second half of the album, and the songs have a reassuringly authentic performance feel. This album is a calling card for what the band do on stage. In the age of more and more artificial sounds – is there such a thing as fake music? – it’s so good to hear a young band bash the songs out, treating studio recording as a way to reflect the truth of live performance. Humans combining to play music, real over perfect, truth over fake.
Up next, it’s radio single time. From the opening hooks, you know ‘Sweet As Today’ is the AOR radio song. If it were still the 80s, this would be a bona fide radio hit. One of those 80s power songs the folks on TV’s Glee might have even covered along with the likes of Journey, Bon Jovi and Queen. This might sound naff, but in truth those songs were covered because they were great, melodic rock songs. Sadly it’s not the 80s anymore, and stations today seem to spend too much time playing yesterday’s music – but in another age this would have been a hit.
Onto ‘Luminescent Daydream’ – and before alarm bells ring, don’t worry Thieves of Liberty have not moved into a prog suite here. But there is piano for this heartfelt ballad – a song where the vocal really shines. It’s a power ballad folks. Musically this style and arrangement of song is a well-trodden path, but it’s the vocal delivery that makes it special. In an era today where so many singers are front men, with James we have a natural rock singer.
‘Luminescent Daydream’ is a fine song but for the sake of variety and balance it should have appeared much earlier in the album track sequence.
‘Caviar and Diamonds’ is direct intense and gloriously in-your-face. A song that demands you just crank up the volume – even if the Neighbours are watching Strictly next door.
The album closes with a trio of firecrackers – of which ‘Ain’t Going Home’ and ‘Calypso’ have been firm listener favourites on the rockshow for some time.
So there you have it. There’s a time for the conceptual, the clever and the ground-breaking. And there’s also a time for the classic done very well. And Thieves of Liberty serve up an hour’s recorded music that will make you want to buy a ticket and see them live. Confident, vital, purposeful and alive – debut albums seldom mark the peak of a band’s creative evolution but Thieves of Liberty certainly make a clear statement of intent with this fine album. The talent is natural and the quality is clear – as the music demands attention.
Thieves of Liberty can play, they hold nothing back and they do it with a big smile on their faces. This is what rock n roll is all about. Forget the streams, the social likes, the fads and the paid-for follows, it’s time for a re-set of what really matters folks – good music well played. Enjoy a slice of the real and the authentic this autumn with the Thieves of Liberty.
‘Shangri-La’ is released on 15 November. As album of the month, tracks will be featured on each Friday’s Rock Show.
The album is available to pre-order now via TMR Rock Records https://TMRRockRecords.com/thievesofliberty