Moral Panic - Nothing But Thieves Review by Susan Harris

“This is not what you think it is, it’s worse.”

Nothing But Thieves are an English rock band, formed in 2012 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. They consist of lead vocalist and guitarist Conor Mason, guitarist Joe Langridge-Brown, guitarist and keyboardist Dominic Craik, bassist Philip Blake, and drummer James Price.

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If you can take one positive thing about 2020, and let’s face it, there’s not much, music has been utterly brilliant; creativity has not been a victim of Covid. Nothing but Thieves third album came just at the right time, when the world is suffocating under Lockdown’s, harsh restrictions and social isolation. The aptly titled, Moral Panic, brings the listener through a Euphony of emotions, the upbeat melodies in contrast to the meaning or perhaps my understanding of the lyrics. 

Now, when a band I adore releases a new album, I listen from start to finish, from track one to the final song, because I always believe that is the order the band or artist meant for you to listen to it. I love nothing more than getting in my car, driving around with the volume turned up and losing myself in the road and the music. That wasn’t possible with Moral Panic due to Covid restrictions, but it didn’t lessen the experience for me, only cemented the love I had for the band since I heard Itch from their EP Graveyard Whistling.

I remember traveling to the UK, to a tiny venue in Liverpool to see the band. I was giddy with excitement, half expecting that the lead singer, Conor Mason, would not sound as he did on the albums I had played over and over again. In a word of autotuned singers that has ruined music, I always fear that the rawness I adored in a singer’s voice would be diluted. I closed my eyes when the band took to the stage and breathed a sigh of relief, as the melody played and Conor sang the first line of the opening number. The hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stood to attention. Conor has this powerful angelic sounding voice, that can go from soft and seductive to rock god in just a few bars.  

Moral Panic is one of those rare albums, like with most NBT albums, that is an album you can listen to from start to finish without skipping, You delve right in with Unperson, a song that speaks to anyone struggling to find their identity, and how society wants you to be a carbon copy of those around you. The first song released off the album, Is Everybody going crazy?, gave you a feel for how the album was going to be...then, among the guitar heavy songs, you get the reprieve of Real Love Song and Impossible, which could absolutely be an alternative wedding song.  

Moral Panic is a current, relatable album, full of heavy rifts and angelic vocals, and thought provoking lyrics. When the world returns to normal, anthems like Unperson and Can you afford to be an Individual? will join songs like Itch, Ban all the Music, Amsterdam, I’m not made by Design, I was just a kid, and Graveyard Whistling as crowd pleasures where we get to dance our hearts out in live venues again.

And there is something so appealing when a mild-mannered singer, with such a powerful voice utters a curse in a song that makes me smile. 

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​Fave songs from Moral Panic:
Unperson,
Moral Panic,
Phobia,
Can you afford to be an Individual?
​and
Before we Drift Away ( But the entire album is a belter!)

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If you’ve listened to any of my writing playlists, Nothing but Thieves are in there a lot. If not, then I advise you to go back to the very start, to the Graveyard Whistling EP. Or any Vikings and Cover fans out there, check out this spin tingling cover used for Season 2 of Vikings, Holding out for a Hero. 

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