Thieves – You Hold the World Like a Gun EP

Somewhere in the mid 90s, electronica got full of itself. Personally, I blame MTV darlings like Prodigy. That band’s brand of mindless big-beat drums ripped from the Chemical Brothers coupled with “edgy synth lines” was just what MTV needed to feed the masses a new trend. Having the rather creepy Keith Flint (whom I solely blame for that rather grotesque rave/punk fashion hybrid) shout catchphrases rather angrily helped quite a bit. So while talented acts like Orbital, Aphex Twin, and Squarepusher were busy discovering new ways to warp sounds and fuck with melodies, MTV got in bed with wholly forgettable Crystal Method and whoever showed up on those godawful Amp compilations. For some reason, most of the electronica acts not featuring break beats and lame repetitive chrouses got labeled as IDM. Intelligent Dance Music? Independent Dance Mix? Irate Disco Muff? Who cares, the point is it offered a nice often cerebral alternative to the mindless electronica of the late 90s. Now, it’s all the rage. Artists like Prefuse 73 are quickly welding together the laptop techno and hip-hop arenas into some smooth plastic Frankenstein (with Nikes!). Even better, it’s been a good five or six years since this whole IDM thing started and we’re still getting quality artists.

Thieves is the project of one Greg Reynaud. You Hold the World Like a Gun is his debut EP, although it’s incredibly hard to believe this is a first release. “Silent Servant” opens up with some backward percussion and sampling reminiscent of Download before falling into hazy underwater drumbeats and shower of sonar pings and responses. Buried under all that is an innocent piano line, but it’s the overpowering Atlantean drums that really drive the track. This sort of stuff was made for a nice pair of headphones so that the drums might drown everything else out entirely.

“Silent Servant” fades out with some grim whirs and clicks and the sublime drums of “F.C.C.C.” drop in. Where the previous track was claustrophobic with a fear of drowning, this one is smoky jazz complete with a oh-so-subtle horn sample, and just so the track doesn’t get too repetitive, Reynaud slips in some slick horns before segueing into “The One and the Throng of Many.” This track will draw the most comparisons to albums like Rounds or The Dream of Evan and Chan. However, where those albums exploited the lack of soul in electronic music, Thieves makes its play for the pulpy bloody heart embedded in the hard drive. Androids dream, and they dream of scotch in low-lit rooms served by seductive temptresses who have nothing to do with sheep.

The standout out track is “Give Us Your Huddled Masses.” Here, Reynaud starts off with a timeless club groove before dropping in frentic beats to get hearts pumping. Beneath all this lies an electronic sexy sheen that will push the night into the witching hours haunted by the title track. “You Hold the World Like a Gun” plays with subterranean drones that would make cEVIN jealous. Mercifully, Thieves drops in a Boards of Canada beat and bubbly keyboards, else the listener would slip into the abyss of sunken notes and monophonic melodies.

It is possible that You Hold the World Like a Gun might come across as a lo-fi bedroom experiment to some, and granted the speakers might sound a little stressed at times. However, tracks are crisp and sure when they need to be and suffocating elsewhere. Only computers are perfect and precise, and therefore they lack the passion of error. Reynaud manages to channel emotion through his beats and melodies, and that is far more entertaining that precise beats or perfectly mixed samples. This EP is 20 minutes of a perfect balance between man and machine. Goofy Terminator imagery aside, this is music for people that have names for their computers and enjoy the curve of a skirt and snare with vodka on a regular basis.