Thieves – Achiever

Hailing from Austin, TX, Thieves adheres to the DIY interpretation of mid 2000’s pop-punk pioneered by New Found Glory and The Starting Line and kept alive today by the likes of heavy hitters like The Wonder Years, and a host of supporting acts like The Story So Far, Punchline, and I Call Fives.  But as becomes clear from their recent Achiever EP, looking back further to the classics for inspiration is just as essential as keeping current.  There’s a certain respect for the speedy melodic classics like No Use For A Name that distances these guys from the usual power-pop fodder.

Admittedly though I had my initial doubts.  Opener and title track “Achiever” opens with some pretty squeaky vocals.  Billy’s nasally style alone feels a tad much without a backdrop.  Thankfully the band recognizes that Achiever is a group effort and expects members to pull their own weight.  A track later, once they launch into the frantically paced “The Wisdom Of Insecurity,” the guitars drive the hooks between ricochet drumming, rocketing the album squarely to attention.  A fluttery 90’s indie incandescence pops up from time to time, with the track closing on the heels of some twinkly guitar sparkles.

From here on in Achiever manages a lightshow of variety, balancing the new with the old.  “Bioluminescence” shines brightly in an enthusiastic opener leading way to the insightful attention grabbing observation that “some people wake up every day to their perfect lives yet all they do is complain.”  The track sequences through a variety of highs and lows, concluding with a very Jack’s Mannequin styled vocal outro.  That “Compassion vs. Contempt” follows with a whirling instrumental tornado only heightens Thieves’ youthful jubilance and makes for some welcome early Blink 182-esque juvenility.  Not to be outdone, “Entitled To Nothing” continues the band’s ever-evolving experiment with a bass-heavy post-punk gully, ensuring that listeners could never fault the band for keeping things too simple.

Overall, Achiever showcases Thieves as a pleasingly amateurish pop-punk act well on their way to making something big.  Admittedly Achiever tries to be a little grander than it needs to be – the band calls it a concept album about “facing your demons and admitting that you have room to grow… learning to truly appreciate the people who make you want to be a better, more honest person” – and while some themes and buzzwords shine through (like “self reflection” and sitting in a hospital bed), it doesn’t quite achieve the thematic impact they may have been hoping for.  Still, their ambition doesn’t compromise their core talents and certainly makes for a more engaging listen that just another collection of shallow breakup songs.  Fans of simple, catchy early 00’s pop-punk should keep Thieves on their radar and definitely giveAchiever a deserving chance.