Surrounded By Thieves – Self Titled

Energetic Las Vegas punk rock act Surrounded By Thieves harnesses the power of lifelong struggle as the fuel igniting their flame.  Their self titled full length pummels listeners with societally damning lyric upon societally damning lyric, all backed by a sort of primal punked up rage.  The result is a somewhat uneven eleven track audio assault to the senses – one that seldom favours control over energy and that at times can barely hold itself together during the height of outbursts.  As the album plays out, listeners get caught between an at times disjointed mix of tuneful intelligence and disruptive barking that makes for an uneven listen.

The album’s strengths lie within the superior melodic composition of tracks most in line with “Know Someone” and “Still The Same.”  The former never sacrifices the pent up anger informing Surrounded By Thieves’ practice, but purposely channels it through well chained riffs that lead listeners to an apex of swirling harmonies and spirited late-song melody.  The same can be said of the latter, which distinguishes itself through a pummeling valley of breakneck drumming made meaningful through a layer steadily evolving, Bad Religion-esque  “woo-ooo-oooh”’s.  Surrounded By Thieves’ best moments force comparisons to contemporaries Unit F and American Werewolves – with particular reference to front man Brandon Buck’s voluminous spoken-word belting.  For instance, what “Republic” lacks in finesse it makes up for in it’s judgement of an overtly materialistic nation of hypnotic advertisements.

But in order to reach those blistering highs, listeners will be forced to wade through a rather uneven startup.  Opener “Monster” highlights the rather loose production that surfaces throughout particular tracks.  For an album that is generally even in guitars and vocals, the drummer’s ferocity often becomes washed out when compared with other album production (like on “Ask Yourself” when they begin sounding like a garbage can).  At other times, songs like “Experience” really land their mid-track solo on the mark, but otherwise come across too rough around the edges for the remainder.  The album succeeds or fails on a track-by-track basis.  When Surrounded By Thieves has a clear vision, the result comes together tightly.  But when there is even a little ambiguity, the tracks lack compositional confidence.

When all is said and done, Surrounded By Thieves’ third full length lacks the consistent execution of comparable peers like Unit F and American Werewolves.  The strongest tracks showcase the band as a capable and confident punk rock outfit, but those that miss the mark offer little for fans of punk rock who have heard it all before.