If you’re in need of a fresh batch of fiery tunes to close out a chaotic year with, take a listen to what Friendly Thieves have been up to lately. Since early summer, the Kansas City-based Alt Funk/Rock group has been hard at work rolling out singles. Their songs explore a spectrum of ideas that illustrate a collective experience with the world at large, their fans, and with one another.
“There are themes of rage, gumption, frustration… just being ready to rage and burn everything down,” vocalist Sam Wells explained. “If you also need to rage, these songs are for you.”
On November 12th, “The Wolf and the Lamb” hit streaming platforms. It’s a song that could score a sullen death walk to the gallows if the doomed party sported a smirk all the way up until the moment of expiration. It exhibits an interesting composition that doesn’t rely too heavily on a distinct hook. Rather, it focuses its energy on a gradual expansion of sound that culminates into an augmented version of what it started out as.
It’s Friendly Thieves’ final single of 2024, but if you’re only just learning about them, don’t worry – there’s plenty to get down to on the backlog.
“Get It Yourself,” which dropped on June 7th, was the first installment in their summer catalog of new music. The band busts out all the stops in this one – picture Tina Turner meets Florence + The Machine with a little bit of Steely Dan mixed in for good measure and you’ll get the idea. The song is anthemic and explosive, and it grabs your attention right from the start. It proved to be the perfect kickoff to a slew of new tracks that the band holds near and dear to their hearts.
Most of these songs follow a common thread of angst and stoic unrest. While there’s certainly a puritanical infusion of fury at the core of each one, this isn’t Rage Against the Machine we’re talking about… it’s something quite different. The sound is heavily funk influenced, but there’s still plenty of “renegade” to go with it.
That being said, it’s not all about the rampage. There’s an element of personability and the overall human experience woven into the songwriting that communicates something sincere and deliberately familiar to the listener.
“Really, I think you can just boil it all down to experience,” said guitarist Jamae Breeze. The band explained how eachone of them contributed something of themselves to the songs, and if you take the time to listen to them, you’ll likely come to see exactly what they mean by that.
Whether it’s cities on fire, transcendental journeys on psychedelic cactus juice, or screaming out loud to the world at large “Who the fuck cares?!” with all the nerve you can muster, Friendly Thieves is all about the experience, and each one of these songs is an experience in and of itself. Be sure to listen to “The Wolf and the Lamb,” “Get It Yourself,” and the four other tracks from this year that are available to stream on all listening platforms.
