Nothing But Thieves - "Moral Panic" (2020)

Nothing But Thieves is the kind of mainstream alt-rock band you don't see much these days, harkening back to bands of the late 90s / early 2000s like (pre-Kid A) Radiohead, Muse, Foo Fighters and Queens Of The Stone Age. The heavy, crunching guitars; angsty and anthemic lyrics; and Connor Mason's impressive falsetto is not something you really see all that much anymore. They were really on a roll as well: from the promising debut, to the much more ambitious and consistent Broken Machine and then 2018's even better What Did You Think When You Made Me This Way? EP. The signs were pointing to the band going on to making something truly great for their 3rd record, but unfortunately it hasn't really worked out for me.

The album really flits between two distinct lanes: either really run of the mill pop-rock ballads, or very hit and miss songs that incorporate elements of electronics, dance and a little bit of industrial styles. You can here both the strong influence of drive-time radio rock and the recent strain of super edgy electro-pop (think Billie Eylish and more recent Bring Me The Horizon stuff). It makes the album feel quite derivative without good enough writing to make up for it. The opener Unperson demonstrates how the band don't really know how to incorporate these new influences together. It's a super messy tune that starts sounding something more like Nine Inch Nails before going back to the bands more standard alt-rock style before turning into something more dancy as the electronics manipulate Conner's vocals as he sings "I feel like a clone of a clone of a clone of a clone of a clone (ect)". The track is about not having an individual identity in the modern age, but isn't really profound at all and just comes across so overly edgy. The band has delved into political and societal themes before, but Moral Panic completely revolves around them. Unfortunately much of the record, like Unperson, doesn't really hit the mark and just comes across as edginess with little substance.

At least some of the failed sonic experiments on here are interesting, which can't be said from the majority of the radio-ready power ballads. They are particularly generic and predictable; following done to death chord progressions and emotional swells. Genuinely the only two ballads that I can remember anything about straight after a listen is the singles Real Love Song and Impossible, and Real Love Song in particular feels pretty underwritten despite its catchy call and response guitar line. Free If We Want It and There Was A Sun sound like the toothless drivel that Snow Patrol have put out since Eyes Open and Before We Drift Away is such a one note and obvious closer with no twists or reasons to care about it. This Feels Like The End is the most shameless rip off on the record, not only of the band's own song Amsterdam, but also of Rudimental and John Newman's Feel The Love. Weird mix, I know; but the band some how manages to completely rip off both those songs at the same time

Despite the lack of overall consistency, there is a handful of good to great songs on here. Impossible is gentler than the other ballads on the record and has some unique vocal melodies from Connor that make it sound unique amongst the predictability of the other slow tracks. The lead single, Is Everybody Going Crazy? is classic NBT with massive guitars and a soaring anthemic hook. Phobia is obviously influenced by Billie Eylish with its creepy and claustrophobic first half, before descending into a heavy guitar led back end where Conner works himself up into a frenzy and breaks his usually flawless falsetto to sound darker and more deranged. Finally, Can You Afford To Be An Individual? is by far the best track on the album and one of the best songs the band have written to date. This relentless behemoth is the most lyrically dense on the record, as the band channel their inner Rage Against The Machine; rattling out political sloganeering nonstop for the song's four minute length. Conner literally sounds like he's tiring himself out by the end of the track, that's how intense the track is. The riffs are heavy as the band has ever been, leading to a massive breakdown in the middle of the track. It's the progression from the last album the rest of the tracks here should've been.

Despite the fair share of generic pop rock nothingness on here, the record isn't that bad. Conner Mason's gorgeous vocals save all of the songs on here from being truly uninteresting and the album is really well (if a little cleanly) produced; and when the band are in gear, they're still producing good songs. I've saved the tracks I like, and I probably won't come back to the full thing again. Hopefully they'll get back to the upward trajectory they were on with their next project.

Top Tracks: Is Everyone Going Crazy?, Phobia, Impossible, Can You Afford To Be An Individual?

5/10