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"To all the open minded chancers,risk takers,optimistic pessimists, pessimistic optimists, the lovers (be you in or out of it), the fighters(whether you win or lose), for those high on life or those living to get high...Welcome.Welcome to the world as interpreted by the Sheep Thieves, where with the right drugs and the right set of wings, you can fly. The Thieves are all of the above, the sum of their parts. Their backgrounds and personalities are as diverse, and yet unified, by the rights of passage of their youth, growing up in a town infamously titled ’No-wheresville’. In a place famous for its shoes and Special Brew (take your pick?), they cut their teeth, sharpened their wits, hardened their fists and learned to love.My first recollection of watching the Thieves, if I’m honest, can’t be traced to one particular gig. In fact, apart from being briefy introduced to front man, J Kells (a skinny boog-a-loo with a Kronie in hand), in The Racehorse (legendary home for Northampton’s misfits and underground scene). Exact memories elude me, though they’re in my sub-conscience somewhere. We discussed our love of The Cure, Jane’s Addiction and Psychedelics, thus laying the foundations for a friendship, many a messy an adventure and fortuitously, for me, at a time when the Thieves’ sound was forming its own unique signature.Soon after I moved to ’No-wheresville’ (of my own free will) I fell in love with (some of) its inhabitants, including J’s fellow Thieves - Tom, Sam and Dov. They were uncompromising in their mission to create songs that reflect their personal experiences. They embraced their influences but weren’t satisfied to jump someone elses train. Creativity and a lust for life flowed. From cramped basement rehearsals to gigs that left the imprint of strobe lights burnt into my retinas (epileptics beware!). There were live shows like I’d never seen before.As I said, I can’t remember a ’first gig’ but funnily enough (and Sheep Thieves gigs are always fun!) this seems quite befitting because, for me, and many like me, the Thieves were an integral way of our life and a celebration of it. Our ’Ritual di lo Habitual’, and not an entity that is a one off experience. God only knows how many miles we covered to watch them play the shittiest dives, blagging lifts, jumping trains or as ’official stowaways’ in the back of whatever vans they could lay their hands on to reach the next gig.Those days, throughout the late nineties, had their share of ups and downs for all, as we lived disillusioned with society, politicians and, most notably, the music being regurgitated and force fed to us all through faceless, chain record stores (viva Spin-a-disc! And hail Mogwai, Spiritualized, Aphex and the Melvins). Moving thorugh the new millenium, it really doesn’t seem like much has changed. We have all slowly matured through necessity and mostly without dignity (thank F*ck!) as we strive to pursue our dreams AND live with the same passion of our youth. My life has, at times, taken me away from the Thieves but their music has always been with me and here they are, once more, an incarnation of love, loss, joy, aggressive beauty and freedom. Taking you higher, where vertigo may get the better of you, where pharmaceuticals (or insert your own poison here....) will have long since fallen by the wayside and can be glanced over your shoulder, spiralling back to earth, redundant like jettisoned fuel tanks from a rocket ship.A band capable of hauling you out of mediocrity, out of the dirt and up off the floor with beautiful melodies, guitar loops and layers, combining primal beats, psychedelic pop, funk and bass. Shit, they’ll even catch you when you do fall".NEIL SMITH 2005