From the opening bars of Thieves’ newest record Achiever, you know you’re in for something special. The Pop-Punk world has found itself in an interesting position in the past few years. Commercially, the genre has completely moved out of fashion, and after a few years of trying to keep up with the changing times, Pop-Punkers have now found that they prefer the spotlight off of them, giving them the freedom to write the music how it should be, just like it was back in the heyday of Taking Back Sunday. The genre has been finding a new stronger following in the kids who were in Middle School when the music was more ubiquitous that have now grown up and want to relive the soundtrack of their formative years.

The Austin-based quartet delivers a collection of songs that feels like a non-stop adrenaline rush, with technically proficient musicianship, and erratic shifts in style, tempo, and texture. This sets them apart from the majority of the genre, which has always preferred simple song structures and predictability, and puts them more align with groups like Say Anything or the up-and-coming For The Foxes.

Lyrically, the album is a sort-of-concept album, with Vocalist/Guitarist Billy Canino saying that the 7 songs all focus on “facing your demons and admitting that you have room to grow. It’s about learning to truly appreciate the people who make you want to be a better, more honest person, instead of obsessing over the idea that you have something to prove to them, society, and yourself.” It’s fitting, then, that the music reflects the sense of independence and forgetting about the fashion that the lyrics are promoting.

                  Achiever is released on 7/31 independently by the band on their website.