IV Thieves

At least Noel Gallagher thinks they're going to be huge. Apparently he called IV Thieves "pretty special" and, despite the source, we're guessing he didn't mean "special" in the grade school insult way. Noel Gallagher hates every band ever, so that's a pretty special recommendation right there. The band also have a cool back story: they used to be called Nic Armstrong & The Thieves, but out on the road Armstrong became so enamoured with his bandmates' skills that he divvied up the writing duties and lead vocals with them. Very democratic. And somehow, with all of this going for them, I was more than a little bored out of my mind listening to this LP. It's all very competent garage/Brit rock meets '60s pop, with waves upon waves of guitar. But the bulk of the disc feels stylistically muddled and inspirationally flat.