THEIA aren’t exactly new to our pages, having stumbled on them at a Wildfire many years ago and taking to their big, brash power trio hard rock. However, they’re not the first band to revamp themselves, downsizing to a duo and changing their sound quite drastically. Just like that Wildfire, when they opened for The Virginmarys at the Soundhouse in Leicester last year, I was taken with them all over again as I was introduced to what they are now. Taking their sound in a much more alternative, poppy and, dare I say it, modern direction, if THEIA were good at their previous efforts, they’re excellent in their new format.
Their second EP in this setup, it follows on perfectly from The Day but far more comfortable in its skin. It makes the predecessor sound like an experiment which could have gone badly wrong (but didn’t) whilst this is brothers Kyle and Ash Lamley saying “This is us!” And being so unashamed and unapologetic about it, too. It’s still big and bold and brash but sonically poles apart from their material from a few years back. Those albums weren’t bad, this is just better. And more importantly, it’s more fun to listen to. Lyrics are still heady with a hefty dose of tongue-in-cheek to make you think with a smile. Meanwhile, sonically, it’s full of bounce and energy which translates to the live environment.
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“Tastes Like God” has the joyful and giddy abandon of Weezer on their Van Weezer album, implying that music is the closest thing we have on this planet to God. And frankly, they’re not wrong. Meanwhile, the title track delves into the weirdness of our dreams and musically, matches it. Starting off with a simple acoustic strumming pattern before exploding into life as it hits the chorus, there’s even some borderline rapping from Kyle Lamley. It flows as smooth as a river and if it sounds like it’s a song which is doing too much, on paper, yes, it is. But when you listen to it, it all feels natural. Closing track “Everything” is the band’s own social media song because every band needs a song about that now. It doesn’t add anything new to the conversation but does tick the necessary box which manages to marry pop gloss with grit in a deft manner, even flirting with a bit of dance in places.
But it’s the first two tracks that are the real highlight in an EP which doesn’t have any dead weight. “I’m Plastic” and “Live This Down” are bouncy, bright numbers. Which is really something given that all five tracks are like that. It’s a reminder of how great punchy rock music can be and while the band now skew in a more alternative slant, it doesn’t mean they can’t bring the riffs to the party. Which they do. And married with Ash Lamley’s earth-shattering force of drumming, the groove-filled opener of the former shows that they can still be a snarling beast like the days of old.
The other part that can’t be omitted from this release is the breakdowns. Pretty much every song here has a breakdown as filthy as Glenn Quagmire’s search history, each one more thrilling than the last that it’s hard to pick a favourite. Yet it never feels like a token gesture. It adds darkness to the bright colours of the rest of each respective song because light and shade are symbiotic after all. The Wet Die Young is the new watermark for a band who, frankly, have never had a bad release. There’s newfound confidence in the brothers Lamley, knowing when to throw a wall of sound at the listener and when to provide bare-bones moments to push the songs along. THEIA are everything I want in a band in 2023 – fun, alternative, modern and doing something a bit different from everyone else with a massive sound.
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Header image by Lee Hamilton-Cooper
The Wet Die Young is out now
THEIA: official | facebook | twitter | youtube | bandcamp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6iM3shL5SA
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