Dead Club City - A Review
Having watched Nothing But Thieves since their start, it was always going to be hard to guess what their fourth album would look and sound like, but I’m fairly confident that Dead Club City is not what anyone was expecting. Is it a cheap attempt at aping nostalgia, or a genuine love letter to a bygone sound? Spoiler alert: it’s the latter. Finally over the third album hurdle, Nothing But Thieves has unleashed the 70s & 80s-inspired retro-futurist concept album that walks the fine line between knowingly kitschy and unabashedly earnest, full of extremely addictive hooks, killer riffs and expert production.
Even for a band that likes to try their hand at different styles, this one is quite a sharp left turn. The Southend-on-Sea 5-piece have leant heavily into the synths and the funk on this one, as the greatest exhibit of their chameleon-like ability to morph genres. It goes far deeper than just the sound palettes though. The band are known for researching their source material to a great degree, which allows them to achieve a far more authentic feel whenever they gun for a specific style. Possibly one of the most convincing numbers is Do You Love Me Yet?, complete with stings of disco strings, a Pink Floyd-esque sectional tempo change and synth stabs galore. Mind you other songs mess with traditional structure; Pop The Balloon also features a complete shift of tone in its midsection, although it’s an oddball of a track even when judged alongside its siblings.
On that note, past albums from Nothing But Thieves have been held in high regard (and criminally underexposed) but typically contain quite a few songs that are an acquired taste, taking a few listens to determine if they work or not. Strangely, Dead Club City is almost devoid of this phenomenon, with most of the tracks feeling so confident that it’s tough to question them. The themes of the fictional, members-only utopian city cooked up for the album are peppered throughout, though occasionally coming across as a bit of a forced reminder (in the case of Keeping You Around).
Perhaps it’s the stronger visual theming and more literal place setting, but Dead Club City feels more tightly designed and focused than the previous album, Moral Panic. The funk and pop-punk influences have been dialled up with riotously addictive bass hooks and simple but powerful beats. Throw in some positively filthy guitar work in the album’s mid-section and it’s a recipe for an epic listen. Speaking of Moral Panic, despite not being so overly focused on themes of political turmoil and environmental doom, Dead Club City somehow comes across as being more dystopian. I’d chalk it up to the retro-futurism that inspired this record, which usually signals a hidden, sinister underbelly. With a lot of the songs touching on doomed romance or bittersweet loves, the dystopia seems to lie in the unsustainability of love in what’s seemingly a perfect place.
It’s impossible to discuss a Nothing But Thieves album without some focus on Conor Mason’s vocal work. So, what’s in store for LP number 4? Restraint seems to be the aim of the game as a stylistic choice, sticking to more grounded melodies as opposed to the ferocious caterwauling of Broken Machine. But don’t worry, there’s still plenty of arresting opportunities for Mason to stun with his insane range and timbre, including some ear-piercing falsettos on songs like City Haunts that only help to make the tracks sound more convincingly like they’re from the era they’re referencing. You could be forgiven for thinking that this was an album prised from a time capsule, albeit a rather eclectic-sounding one.
As a result, Nothing But Thieves feel more intensely cohesive and hive-minded than ever, with an almost alien level of synchronicity that uses production to elevate the songs and create a world within each one, as opposed to relying on tricks and gimmicks. Not a millimetre of it feels wasted, dead or uncared for; it’s rare to find such painstaking attention to detail. Dead Club City is bold, audacious, incredibly airtight and brilliant, feeling both modern and wonderfully faithful to its stylistic influences. It’s a great contemporary rock concept album and one of the strongest releases of 2023, a milestone for one of the UK’s best and brightest rock acts.