Nothing But Thieves — Dead Club City — Album Review
Alternative | Rock
Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
Nothing but Thieves have been a band that I have dabbled in and out out for a fair while now. But one thing I can certainly say, is that whenever I have seen them perform live, I have always enjoyed it! I still remember quite clearly seeing them at 2019’s Truck Festival, which to this day, still stands as one of my favourite live sets from said festival.
And in the light of the likely possibility that I would be seeing Nothing But Thieves perform once more later on this year, I thought it only fitting to give their latest album a spin, and finally conduct my first album review focusing on the Southend-on-Sea formed rock band.
Dead Club City is the fourth studio album from Nothing But Thieves, and the follow-up to their 2020 project Moral Panic. Though for me personally, the closest thing I have had to a full-on listening experience of Nothing But Thieves would up until a few weeks ago would’ve been their sophomore album Broken Machine, which to this day stands as my personal favourite album from the band.
And with that said, I kind of only really had the tracks I already knew to go off of when setting myself up with what to expect in the case of Dead Club City. However, it was very apparent that the band were trying to push the stylistic album into more experimental territory through this fourth album.
When I say “experimental”, however, what I really mean is that Dead Club City strives for that “something for everyone approach”, and the tracks that arrive as a result of that goal offer varying degrees of enjoyment.
I will say right off the bat, that the opening track “Welcome to the DCC” was one of the most shining cases of where the band’s stylistic shift felt like a step in the right direction, with a level of funk that even gives the likes of The Weeknd’s “Sacrifice” a run for its money. This was the track that I definitely found myself returning to most often, given just how much I enjoyed it.
And while there are definitely other tracks further down the line that were highly enjoyable as well, and even a few tracks that felt reminiscent of the Nothing But Thieves aesthetic I had familiarised myself with, even with the little experience I’ve had listening to them, those tracks find themselves packed tightly together with a few tracks that felt very out of place.
The most glaring example of this in my eyes, would be the two tracks that follow the splendour of the opener, those being “Overcome” and “Tomorrow Is Closed”, both of which give off a vibe almost reminiscent of Sam Fender, which I personally feel doesn’t meld too well with a band like Nothing But thieves.
In fact, the tracks that I did find myself enjoying more, were those that had the more danceable elements to them, with other examples being “City Haunts” and “Do You Love Me Yet?”. That being said, if Nothing But Thieves are going to switch their sound up to something new, more of this would be much appreciated in the future.
Favourite Tracks: Welcome to the DCC | City Haunts | Do You Love Me Yet?
Least Favourite Track: Keeping You Around
Sony Music
