Review | Album review: Nothing But Thieves uncork some massive stadium bangers in a Muse style

Nothing But Thieves
Nothing But Thieves
RCA

Although they are fresh from supporting Muse on their Drones tour, and will be performing a slot at Britain’s Reading and Leeds festivals next month, Nothing But Thieves are probably better known over here for their deliciously dark cover of Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out for a Hero. All that’s about to change, though, as the British alt-rock five-piece embark on the Asian leg of their Under My Skin tour, which makes a stop at Hidden Agenda, in Kwun Tong, on August 15. Hailing from the Southend-on-Sea music scene that brought us The Horrors and These New Puritans (and Busted, but you can’t win ’em all), they may look like a carefully grunged-up boy band but NBT are a talented bunch, led by the soaring falsetto of 23-year-old Conor Mason. Their debut album is packed with widescreen, chart-friendly, rock anthems – 16 of them on the deluxe release, which runs to more than an hour. Even if the Muse-lite ballads begin to wear thin, and they will, the massive stadium rock­ers Itch, Trip Switch and Wake Up Call won’t leave you feeling robbed.