Good thieves.
In the UK, democracy can be taken for granted rather easily and this is shown by the low level of voter turnouts at elections. Some would say its because no matter who you vote for, the government always gets in, some may not even care enough to couch it in such a manner, so yes, even though democracy is deemed to be good by many historians, it isn't viewed with a lot of respect.
One group who appear to believe in democracy are IV Thieves, formerly known as Nic Armstrong and the Thieves. With many gigs and album under that name led by the front man, the band came to the agreement that they were working truly as a band and decided to change their name to indicate this new level of team-work. And with no sign of a bloody revolution, the first fruits of this collective can be found on their "debut" album, 'If We Can't Escape My Pretty.'
Existing fans needn't worry though, the same old guitar driven tracks remain in place and there appears to be no weakening of the material, if anything, the shared responsibility appears to have brought the best out of the band.
'Day is a downer' is lovely with such a cheery charm to its melody and turn of lyrics, it could easily pass for a Rutles track, which if you ignore the comedic leanings, indicates the quality of the song writing. It also sits pretty well with an album that not so old its retro but there is a familiar feel to the music and vocals which can only be described as being belonging to classic rock and pop.
There may be those who would bracket the band in the same category as Jet, and certainly tracks like 'Have Pity' or 'All The Time' have the same swagger and quick-fire riffs that either inspire love or loathing of the Aussie outfit but there is more to this album than just dumb rock n roll (as fun as that always is.)
As is the fashion these days, there is a blues vein ripping through the record, which aids in dropping the chest beating idea of rock and gives the tunes a bit more gravitas and 'The Sound And The Fury' adds some restrained, dark vices to proceedings, almost like The Stones in the late 1960s.
And that's the type of thing that comes through on this record. At one minute, the vocals appear to be aping John Lennon's sneer, the next minute the drums are rattling away like a Led Zeppelin track but it all hangs together cohesively. The band themselves would be the first to admit that their brand of song writing owes a lot to the classic bands of yesteryear and when Noel Gallagher publicly praises a band, you know there is an element of the traditional to them. Thankfully, IV Thieves do it all rather well and what it lacks in originality, this album more than makes up for in spirit, joyous revelling and quality.