Local Music Is Sexy 2 Preview: IV Thieves Are So Good, They Make Oasis Polite

Austinist is having a big bash at Mohawk on Thursday. You know this much. But perhaps you don't know anything about IV Thieves (who were formerly named Nic Armstrong and the Thieves before getting all democratic). That's OK - we'll help you.

Let's start with this tidbit: Oasis love them. And much like Mikey from the Life cereal ads, Oasis hate everything. But Noel Gallagher thinks that "they're pretty special" and that "they'll be one of the biggest bands in Britain." This is the same Noel that has slagged off pretty much every band of the past 10 years. The compliment comes as no surprise considering the British Invasion influences that inform IV Thieves work, but don't let it paint them as paint-by-numbers imitators. As AllMusic remarks, they're "a blast of fresh air that blows away all the dirty hordes who think noise and a howling lead singer are the key to great garage rock when what you really need is imagination, soul, and great tunes. Nic Armstrong has all that."

The big-time rockers all seem to agree, as IV Thieves have opened for The Pretenders, Paul Weller, Oasis, Jet, and The Raveonettes over the past two years. This has included gigs at Madison Square Garden (which we attended in a gauzy booze haze) and Cardiff's Millennium Stadium (capacity 74,000). Yet on Thursday, you can turn up, pay nothing, and enjoy them at our unofficial festival pre-game event. This type of thing is reason #4,756 why you live here, so come on out. It's also worth mentioning that the band spends a great deal of time in Austin, and uses our city as their American home for recording and gigging.

One final note: New West Records will deliver the band's new album If We Can't Escape My Pretty on September 19th, and you can preview tracks on the IV Thieves MySpace page. Thursday's gig is a warm-up for an October UK tour, so expect lots of new tunes.

Image via charlois on Flickr.