The Essex rock band are back with a loud sound on an album that will definitely please fans; yet it does have a few shortcomings, it has moments that does offer moments that will impress people who are less avid about the group.
Yes Nothing But Thieves has a distinct sound that can really rock, which it certainly does at the start of their latest LP. You can hear their influences boldly throughout, it may actually make certain songs too bland and unoriginal but ‘Moral Panic’ sounds confident and assured, with a band that knows what they want to deliver to their fans.
‘Unperson’ begins with such conviction, the energy that is thrown at us is highly infectious, the chorus is also a very strong moment on the whole album. The reverb is deafening on the track and same again with ‘Is Everybody Going Crazy?’, with its blusey guitar opening it with a lot of swagger. Vocally, Connor Mason sounds highly impressive with his delivery and range, it allows the melody to really grab you and it is also a slight pop like tone to it, nothing to be ashamed of at all though. Then dynamics shift on the title track, which offers a little rest that is always nice, but the overall result sadly does not much up to when the band are going full throttle previously.
Nothing But Thieves have done well with more dramatic and ‘stripped’ back songs in the eyes of their fans and ‘Real Love Song’, will become a highlight for those certain songs in their discography. Overall the song has a strong The Killers influence to it with its vocal delivery, the 80’s arena rock nature is rather delightful and will be awesome to experience live. It’s fascinating to go along this record and pick out what inspires NBT and what is nice to see, is how it’s just not the classic rock bands that get them going.
‘Phobia’ reeks of Billie Eilish with its minimalistic percussion and the whispering vocals, the song bring about wanting to shut down the internet….its a great attempt to bring Billie’s style to a rock song, which after its softer beginnings, it ends up roaring a bit.
‘This Feels Like The End’ is a song that returns again to U2/Killers atmosphere and only sticks to that, it feels lifeless as it flows through the motions in a very uninteresting way, when comparing it to the opening tracks. Again this follows with ‘Free If We Want It’ and after having two songs that are in a way stale with uncreative, you wish you were drowning in reverb again to get what you heard out of your mind. Fortunately the indie melody of ‘Impossible’ takes you away for a few minutes, the dramatic ballad chorus hits you powerfully and with lyrics of ‘love, it stings and then it laughs’ on this song, it offers us a pure genuine piece of work by the band.
‘There Was Sun’ has a lot of reverb on the acoustic guitar that makes you feel like you are in the deep heat of the sun, feeling hazy and also the rhythm wants you to move your body with no inhibitions. The actual idea of this song, more of a beat oriented number, is a great shift at this point on the record but it does not flesh out into something really engaging, just ends up being some fun.
Seriousness then follows, the grime entry of ‘Can You Afford to Be An Individual’ opens the curtains to a very social/political track that is note worthy in truth, Connor singing insightful and interesting lyrics such as: ‘breeding a feeling of animosity, our thoughts are tribal, go viral….’ and ‘how can you hate something you don’t even understand? Oh you’re a walking contradiction in your MAGA hat’. Moral Panic finishes with ‘Before We Drift Away’ has a sense of clarity after the panic tones of the record, it feels light and gentle that creates a nice tone. It leaves us with something to look forward to I find, if thats Nothing But Thieves doing what they do well to more of a consistent level, then great.
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