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Stream the Former Thieves Record Release Show Tonight via Yowie.com!

If you are sitting at home tonight on a Friday night like i am, and are not in the state of IOWA (which you should then be at this show instead), then you are in luck! Former Thieves will be streaming their entire Record Release show via Yowie.com at 7PM Central (8PM Eastern/5PM Western). So make sure you check it out! If you like what you hear pick up a copy via iTunes, your local FYE or Hot Topic!

xxx,
Chris No Sleep 

Former Thieves No Sleep Debut Out Today!

The debut full length “The Language That We Speak” from up and coming IOWA heavy-weights Former Thieves is available everywhere today! Head into your local record store to pick up a copy, or do the quicker thing and get it off iTunes! And then of course you can still pick up a copy from us at NoSleepStore.com!

If you live in Iowa or near there, make sure you hit their release show (w/ Cloudmouth, Maidens, Agress, Argos) on Friday! BUT if you do not live there, do not fret! You will be able to watch the entire thing via Yowie! Legit my friends! Legit.

xxx,
Chris No Sleep

ps, our webstore is currently down, and our site is broken. sad life. 

Former Thieves - The Language That We Speak Absolutepunk.net Review

Record Label: No Sleep Records
Release Date: April 19, 2011

Overall: 94%

When punk died and two polar ends of the genre sprouted soon after in the closing of the ’70s and into the ’80s D.I.Y. scene, it seemed the idea of punk and arguments about what it should and shouldn’t sound like not only created a rift in the genre for some, it also helped to push the sound further for a select few. In one extreme, art school kids were taking left-field antics and structuring something unhinged. Others sought to make the genre stronger and more intense than the pioneers a few years before. While the rift only lasted so long, the end of the ’80s and mid-’90s brought some thought-provoking bands crafting the precedents of the past few years around metal, pop and rock. Over the years, bands like Cap’n Jazz, Fugazi, Botch and Refused showcased the sound of post-hardcore - the two split ideas of the punk movement rolled back into one new progressive idea.

Over the past few decades, since the beginning of Rites of Spring, more bands continued to pick up those ideas and meld them into their own. Some will hate the way that it “rips off the past” and “isn’t what it used to be,” while others will embrace it as the saving grace to a few years of slump in the genre: carbon copies, lack of creativity, etc. Dismayed, many of us in our 20’s long for a reunion of many bands we were too dumb to pick up on because they were either (a) too underground or (b) not on this thing called the Internet. Fortunately, there will always be that next generation of kids doing their best to harness similar ideas of “how it was.” Many of us have caught “the Wave” and are excited about the present/future.

Enter from stage Midwest, we have Former Thieves and their full-length debut The Language That We Speak. It’s a testament to all of the above. It’s passionate. It’s thought-provoking at every turn. It encapsulates everything that should be right in the dying genre that is the second-gen Headbanger’s Ball of rejects. Much like last year’s Wrestling Moves,The Language That We Speak intends to make a mark with every last guitar sweep and and vocal rally. “First World Blues,” the siren on the album’s trailer, opens with not only a riff, but the first lines of a new anthem. It says, “We’re tired of chugs, and we want scholarly instrumental play again.” Tone is what producer Chris Common does best with Former Thieves here, and it is really what drives the force of the album home. Ben Lynn’s bass doesn’t just follow, it takes its own direction as it counters Joshua Parks’ guitar parts. As outlandish as many elitists may find the next statement, there hasn’t been work like this since the days of Cook and Knudson. (Continue to album review’s replies for backlash of those last few words.)

Don’t worry angry kids, there’s going to be plenty on the album to get your aggression out. Joshua Sparks comes down hard on his kit throughout the raging “Trust Fund Kids,” and prepare to circle pit with your best buds during “Pacemaker Trendsetter.” Channeled through the execution of all that blunt emotion is how well the songs are structured and continue maneuvering throughout, and it’s the album’s closing title track that will stop your pit moves in their tracks. It’s a song that gradually climbs and falls, but it’s where every member displays the best of their talents. With every building minute, the song hits harder and harder. As Matt Schmitz screams out “I’m passing the blame!” over and over again up until the dropped frequencies of the album, it’s the proper ending to the best post-hardcore record to surface in a little under a decade. It’s the genuine statement of “Okay, things have kind of sucked for a few years, but this is what I have to give you to make up for it.”

“Dead Horses Are Turned Into Glue” contains an outstanding guitar riff as Schmitz screams “My senses are wearing out.” For a while there, I thought I was getting too old too quick. At last year’s Warped Tour, I felt like the dud reporter that just didn’t understand “the new thing.” Now I know it wasn’t may age. In fact, it’s not my tastes at all. Now it’s the time for the next group of gifted architects to surprise us with a new generation of talent. Even through a few listens, The Language That We Speak can run itself together at some points. Past that little bit of tarnish on the trophy shines a powerful record with a bold contemporary statement for those kids not respecting the greats of the past and harboring generic ideas.

Track Listing1. Dead Horses Are Turned Into Glue*
2. I Can’t Get There From Here
3. Brilliant Expectations
4. Trust Fund Kids*
5. First World Blues**
6. Everything Has a Price, Everything is Stolen
7. Pacemaker Trendsetter
8. What’s Real and What’s Not
9. Bad Friends
10. The Language That We Speak**

*key tracks

Recommended If You Like Coalesce’s Give Them Rope; Botch’s An Anthology of Dead Ends; Native’s Wrestling Moves

Former Thieves Announce US Tours w/ The Carrier and La Dispute

Former Thieves have announced a ton of new tour dates alongside some awesome bands such as La Dispute, The Carrier, Defeater, Native and more! Dates below. Spread the word!

You can pre-order “The Language That We Speak” HERE.

3/24/2011 - Jackson, MS @ The Carter
3/25/2011 - Greenville, SC @ Suite 8
3/26/2011 - Columbia, SC @ House of Hardcore
3/27/2011 - Rock Hill, SC @ The Courthouse
3/28/2011 - Greensboro, NC @ Legitimate Business
3/29/2011 - Richmond, VA @ The Barn
3/30/2011 - State College, PA @ La Casa Blancav
4/01/2011 - Louisville, KY @ Ear X-Tacy Records w/ Xerxes
4/02/2011 - St Louis, MO @ Lemp Arts w/ Xerxes

w/ La Dispute, Defeater, Native
5/5/2011 Magic Stick - Detroit, MI
5/6/2011 Beat Kitchen - Chicago, IL
5/7/2011 House Cafe - Dekalb, IL
5/8/2011 Vaudeville Mews - Des Moines, IA
5/9/2011 Outland Ballroom - Springfield, MO
5/10/2011 Hi Tone Cafe - Memphis, TN
5/11/2011 Rocketown - Nashville, TN
5/12/2011 The Firehouse, Birmingham, AL
5/13/2011 Sweet Melissa’s - Savannah, GA
5/14/2011 New Brookland Tavern - Columbia, SC
5/15/2011 The Brewery - Raleigh, NC
5/17/2011 Canal Club - Richmond, VA
5/18/2011 Charm City Art Space - Baltimore, MD
5/19/2011 Archway Center - Altoona, PA
5/20/2011 Altar Bar - Pittsburgh, PA w/ Cave In
5/21/2011 Krazy Fest - Louisville, KY
5/22/2011 The Barbary - Philadelphia, PA
5/23/2011 Webster Underground - Hartford, CT
5/24/2011 Studio at Webster Hall - New York, NY
5/25/2011 Palladium (upstairs) - Worcester, MA
5/26/2011 Underworld - Montreal, QC
5/27/2011 Wreck Room - Toronto, ON
5/28/2011 Bled Fest - Howell, MI

w/ The Carrier
5/31/2011 San Francisco, CA @ Sub Mission
6/1/2011 Santa Cruz, CA @ 105 Pioneer
6/2/2011 Fresno, CA @ Bel Tower
6/3/2011 Canoga Park, CA @ Cobalt Cafe
6/4/2011 San Diego, CA @ Che Cafe
6/5/2011 Mesa, AZ @ Nile Underground
6/7/2011 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
6/8/2011 Sherman, TX @ VFW Hall
6/9/2011 Little Rock, AR @ Downtown Music
6/10/2011 Nashville, TN @ Rocketown (white building)
6/11/2011 Atlanta, GA @ Archive Gallery
6/12/2011 Tampa, FL @ Transitions Art Gallery
6/13/2011 Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Tavern
6/14/2011 Raleigh, NC @ The Brewery
6/15/2011 Baltimore, MD @ Charm City
6/16/2011 Brooklyn, NY @ Acheron
6/17/2011 Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Loft at The Chance
6/18/2011 Portland, ME @ Deering Grange
6/19/2011 Providence, RI @ Club Hell

xoxo,

Chase No Sleep