If Scotland’s Biffy Clyro and Twin Atlantic met Trent Reznor halfway in Cork, Time Is A Thief could well be the kind of sound they would drag kicking and screaming into the world. Despite being together for a relatively short period of time, Time Is A Thief have already played with contemporaries such as Dinosaur Pile-Up, Twin Atlantic, and Canterbury, and have learned pretty quickly how to blast out a sharp-shock of astounding hard rock.
This electrifying band blend staggeringly good hard-hitting guitar riffs with searing vocal melodies and solid rock drumming (citing influences from seasoned showmen the Foo Fighters ) all under the experienced ear of their producer, Ciaran O’Shea (Cyclefly ).
All the band’s members, bar one, grew up in Midleton, Co Cork, together, attending the same schools, running in the same circles, and naturally playing in the same bands together. Jeff, Jimmy, and Murf began a Rage Against the Machine tribute act, whilst in another part of town Adam was belting out numbers with an originals band named Citizen Elmo. Both acts ultimately parted ways and Adam joined the Middleton trio to form Time Is A Thief. The group began gigging, built a set and launched two EPs: the garage-recorded, rough and ready Conservations (2009 ) and the lighter, more polished, pop-phase offering titled Identity (2010 ). Somewhere between the two tracks is where the Time Is A Thief members realised this was going to be something to start making the necessary sacrifices for, both in their personal and in their financial lives.
Last year was a busy one for the TIAT men. In a tiny cottage in the countryside just outside of Cloyne, they began work on what would eventually become their debut album We’re Not Strangers. They initially planned it as a four track EP, but after arriving into what turned out to be a very creative headspace, the writing flowed and flowed, and in the end they decided against it and went for the album. They ended their time in the studio in May, when they released their first single ‘Our Game’(with accompanying video by Zombie ), before hitting the road for an all-ages tour around Ireland with Scuba Dice. After raising investment via a very successful Fund It campaign, they were able to return to the studio in November and released ‘The Collector’ as their second single (both available as a free download from their bandcamp page: http://timeisathief.bandcamp.com/ ). Their album title comes from the idea that, although they have been together for a few years, this album might be the first music many people have heard from them. Now, after the hard slog of putting in the time, paying their dues and building themselves up, this will not be the last.
Time Is A Thief play The Stables, Mullingar on Friday June 1.
