Thieves

There are hundreds of bands that play pop-punk with the same urgency and heart-on-sleeve romanticism as Thieves, but there's an anthemic sweep to the Austin band's melodic thrashings that lifts it above the faceless hordes singing in the same pinched, nasally tones. Thieves' dense, speedy songs deftly marry surging hardcore beats with a keen pop sense, providing enough technical chops and turn-on-a-dime breakdowns to satisfy fans of heavier fare. Songs like "Slo-Motion" and "Second Star To The Right" might suffer from an overabundance of ideas, but in a stagnant sea of sound-alikes, that's not such a bad thing. - The Onion

The pop-punk genre is flooded with much of the same, so hearing a band that likes to do something different is refreshing. For Thieves, that something different is a lot of time changes and more technical musicianship than we're used to hearing. On Achiever, an album that centers around the trials of being forced to grow up but wanting to do what you love, the band combines the passion of the pop-punk of yesteryear with an endearing and identifiable concept. - Absolutepunk.net

Brandishing a surprisingly technical sword for a pop punk band, today we've got a premiere of "The Wisdom Of Insecurity" from Thieves' upcoming EP, Achiever.

While Thieves are rooted in pop-punk, the playing on your work is extremely high. What's the impetus behind creating technically proficient music in what is often a stylistically simple music scene? - Alternative Press

This album is such an album. I know that sounds weird but what I mean is that its solidarity and cohesiveness are remarkable. Perhaps because of the great scrutiny the album was approached with, it comes out flawless with not one second where you question what they’re doing. Just Give It Up, opposite to what you would assume from its title, is a very fun and inspiring forty-two minutes of music. I really enjoy this album and that is saying a lot from someone who rarely enjoys music of this style. Not only are they great musicians, but Thieves are also an extremely humble band that deserves every bit of recognition they receive. I have no doubt that major labels will be trying to scoop these guys up soon and we’ll be seeing them on the cover of Alternative Press. I also have no doubt that no matter what happens, Thieves will remain modest and will never lose sight of the reasons for playing music. - Let The Rhythm Melt Your Bones

Overall, Just Give It Up is a record that skillfully delivers the combination of hardcore and pop punk with touching and sincere lyrics, giving you forty minutes of refreshing pop punk fun. - The Sound Alarm

The EP is honest, quirky, and awe-inspiring. The band does not slave over trying to transcend their contemporaries; in doing so, Thieves surpass their own expectations and create something that will surprise everyone. - More Than Sound Collective

Quite a feat for any band, least of all a young band doing it all on their own. If Thieves can pull this off live – and I have no doubt that they can – they could be on the verge of leading a whole new movement of aggressive pop-punk for the modern era. - The Impaler Speaks

Quite a feat for any band, least of all a young band doing it all on their own. If Thieves can pull this off live – and I have no doubt that they can – they could be on the verge of leading a whole new movement of aggressive pop-punk for the modern era. - The Impaler Speaks

Achiever is what every concept album should aim to be. This band has a sound that Take This to Your Grave would sound like Fall Out Boy were just a bit heavier and more technically skilled. For such a popular album, you rarely see bands with a comparable sound.

My reviews come from the belief that the artist deserves to have more fans but for this instance I think it’s the fans that deserve Thieves. - Absolutepunk.net

Achiever is what every concept album should aim to be. This band has a sound that Take This to Your Grave would sound like Fall Out Boy were just a bit heavier and more technically skilled. For such a popular album, you rarely see bands with a comparable sound.

My reviews come from the belief that the artist deserves to have more fans but for this instance I think it’s the fans that deserve Thieves. - Absolutepunk.net

The second side of the split features the contributions from Texas’ Thieves, who offer a contrast to Coming Clean’s '90s-esuqe pop punk with an eclectic sound rooted in melodic ambient and intricate rock with a punk edge.

Closer, “Right Back At You” shows the band in a versatile light where the guitar work is incendiary and song-craftsmanship is majestic. - More Than Sound Collective

The show opened up with a surprisingly captivating performance from Thieves, a local Austin band. Thieves doesn’t just break the local-Austin-band stereotype; they shatter it. The band’s repertoire contains no cliché hipster tunes, no overdone synth and no pointless, airy jam sessions. Instead the band plays heavy pop-punk with an incredibly gifted guitarist and a singer who’s found the secret behind singing in a higher range without being annoying.

Following Thieves was pop punk outlet The Story So Far. Not nearly as alluring as the show opener, The Story So Far’s generic pop punk coupled with lead singer Parker Cannon’s harsh yell acted as a mere transition from one band to another. - Red River Noise

Best Punk
6) Thieves - The Austin Chronicle

Local Austin hardcore comes in more forms and varieties than it is credited for; Thieves is a step away from the genre, strongly incorporating a melodic pop punk enthusiasm into their style. Comprised of three original members from the deceased hardcore heavyweight title holder in the Austin area, The Cabaret, the band is well equipped with solid musicians who know exactly how leave it all on the stage.

For those of you reject pop punk on the basis of its inconsistency with what you consider to be brutal enough to jam to, I hope you do not also consider yourself to be open-minded about music. There are good and bad bands within any given genre; Thieves just so happens to be the best.

Support your local music! These guys work as hard as any of the artists on the radio. If you wish to retain any honor or valor as a human, you will pay Thieves' myspace the visit it deserves. You will not be disappointed. - examiner.com

The Sleeping may well be eclipsed by the seemingly endless surge of pissy young bands that love both hardcore’s melodramatic screaming and emo’s melodramatic whining. Before that happens, let the New York group enjoy due credit for crafting a listenable take on the formula. 2009's What It Takes—released by Victory Records, the label that pretty much owns said formula—is full of requisite angularity and simplistic lyrical screeds, but vocalist Doug Robinson appears to be learning some restraint, while keyboardist Chris Evans wields his Hammond in a way that sounds downright sinister. Fire From The Gods leans heavily on the standards of 21st-century headbanging—drop-tunings, Cookie Monster vocals, obscure nautical references—which is a less adventurous approach than the freeform meltdowns of Strangers or The Anti-Scene's attempts to legitimize rap-rock. Austin's "easycore" quartet Thieves make swift, anthemic pop-punk for young dreamers. - The Onion

With its opening chant of “You don’t need maps / when you know where the sidewalk cracks,” Fireworks’ “Detroit” makes it abundantly clear that the Motor City pop-punks aren’t about to launch into their personal “The Big Three Killed My Baby.” Whereas the city’s history as a manufacturing hub has inspired countless other Detroit-born rockers to play off of the industrial clangor and sludgy by-products of now-shuttered automotive plants, Fireworks takes an optimistic cue from Henry Ford (and, by extension, Motown Records), seeking inspiration in technical proficiency, sleekness, and swiftness. The result is a punchier, crunchier version of The Get Up Kids’ hymns to post-adolescent angst welded to blue-collar camaraderie. (The band has a fitful Austin analogue in Thieves.) The Swellers’ power-chord portraits of company-town malaise take the opposite course, while Man Overboard and Transit defiantly rail against pop-punk clichés. - The Onion

Oh, the magic of Free Week: Where else would you ever see a Devo cover band, a contemporary take on '90s post-hardcore, and a swaggering blues-metal act all share the same bill at Red 7? Only here, where Big Mess, We'll Go Machete, and Scorpion Child headline an evening connected primarily by guitars and distortion (so only early Devo really counts there). Upon further inspection, Watching The Moon, Paper Shapes, and Markov share We'll Go Machete's affection for Bush The First-era Dischord, and White Rhino's heavy boogie could easily cozy up to the doomsaying chug of Eagle Claw on classic-rock radio. Rounding out this loosely linked sonic sampler, Thieves put their hyper-technical, hearts-on-sleeves pop-punk up against the mathy mess of Shitty Carwash. - The Onion