It might look essentially like a Sunny Day Real Estate reunion record, but Fire Theft is decidedly a more focused, and far less conflicted band. The overall sound is still a poignant mix of dramatic indie-rock with histrionic punk rock energy, and three of the four emo originators are here--singer/guitarist Jeremy Enigk, bassist Nate Mendel, drummer William Goldsmith--but Fire Theft sounds arena-ready from the get-go. Embracing their inner rock stars, their debut is trippy but smart, as likely to appeal ...
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It might look essentially like a Sunny Day Real Estate reunion record, but Fire Theft is decidedly a more focused, and far less conflicted band. The overall sound is still a poignant mix of dramatic indie-rock with histrionic punk rock energy, and three of the four emo originators are here--singer/guitarist Jeremy Enigk, bassist Nate Mendel, drummer William Goldsmith--but Fire Theft sounds arena-ready from the get-go. Embracing their inner rock stars, their debut is trippy but smart, as likely to appeal to fans of Phish and Rush as Sunny Day's many imitators. This album has sweetly self-effacing bedroom anthems such as "Houses" and mid-tempo minor-keyed anthems like "Waste Time." But Fire Theft explodes with the energy of classic arena rock while the artsy instrumentals seem to have come from a long summer at Robert Fripp guitar camp. At times it devolves into pompous camp ("Uncle Mountain") but overall this is a lovely, sweeping album. --Mike McGonigal show less