The reggae rock outfit departed their Dunedin home and relocated to Auckland earlier this year to focus on music, but the foursome are frothing at the chance to be back on Dunedin soil again.
"All the boys just can’t wait to get back down," the band’s vocalist, Jake Barton, said.
"We’re really looking forward to it. It feels like we’ve been away for ages, even though it hasn’t even been that long."
The group is working towards the release of its debut album, started back in 2014 with Kiwi legend and multi-platinum award-winning artist and producer Tiki Taane.
"He’s someone we’ve all really looked up to, so it was awesome to get in the studio with him," Barton said.
"We clicked musically, and on the same vibe personality-wise. We didn’t feel any pressure whatsoever being in the studio, so it was super-cool."
Two wavy singles from the sessions have seen the light so far: silky smooth strummer Love is Lost (2014) and last year’s massive and filthy Don’t Matter ft. Raiza Biza (2015) showing off the lads’ heavier hip-hop side.
The release topped off a huge year for the boys, who were also selected to join friends Sticky Fingers on their sold-out NZ tour — adding another name to the huge list of acts they’ve worked with, including Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Six60, David Dallas, Katchafire and many more.
"Overall, it still has that summer vibe, but there are some dark parts, and a bit of heavy s..t," the band explains of the forthcoming record.
"We’re still on the summer tunes, but now we’ve got the bangers too."
The band is hoping to tour throughout the summer months and visit Australia next year, so this might be locals’ only chance to see them for some time.
Friends Ragged, Albion Place, and VI NE will support the Thieves at tonight’s show.
DIREEN ON TOUR
Long-standing cult music figure Bill Direen is about to embark on his first national tour in many years, including a Dunedin show on October 7.
The celebrated lo-fi beat poet and art-pop storyteller will travel the length of the country, playing special shows with various members of his seminal pop group the Builders.
The tour coincides with the rerelease of one of the Builders’ most cherished albums, Beatin Hearts (1982), by New York’s Grapefruit Records.
Beatin Hearts was the first 33rpm studio album released by Flying Nun and still stands as a great piece of literate, minimalist garage-rock jangle.
To commemorate the tour, Direen will be accompanied by indie documentary film-maker Simon Ogston (Skeptics: Sheen of Gold), who will combine footage from the tour with archival material to create a special feature-length film about Direen’s life and work.
The film is scheduled for completion next year.
The music
• GoodTimes. & V Energy NZ present Summer Thieves, Ragged, Albion Place & VI NE. Tonight at Re:Fuel, Dunedin. $15 pre-sales and $20 GA tickets from theticketfairy.com and Leith Liquor. Door sales $20.
• Bill Direen and the Builders, 2016 National Tour. Friday, October 7 at Purple Rain, 403 Princes St. $10 entry from 8:30pm.
