Nic Armstrong & The Thieves are an English rock band founded by Nic Armstrong, and perceived to be inspired by the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and the

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

of the 1960s, particularly bands such as the

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

, the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, and

the Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...

. Nic Armstrong's ''The Greatest White Liar'' was released in April 2004 by

One Little Indian Records One Little Independent Records (formerly One Little Indian Records) is an English independent record label. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarcho-punk bands, and managed by former Flux of Pink Indians bassist Derek Birkett. In t ...

and subsequently re-released in 2005 under the moniker Nic Armstrong & The Thieves to illustrate that his live show featured a full band. The US version was released on 8 March 2005 by

New West Records New West Records is a record label based in Nashville and Athens, Georgia. It previously had offices in Burbank, California and Beverly Hills, California. From 2013 to 2018, New West's records in the U.S. were distributed by Alternative Distrib ...

and included a cover of "I Want to Be Your Driver," originally by

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

. The album was produced at

Toe Rag Studios Toe Rag Studios is an analogue recording studio located in Hackney, London, England. History The studio was founded in 1991 by Liam Watson and Josh Collins in the Shoreditch area of London. In 1997, the business relocated to Hackney due to ...

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

-winning

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Liam Watson, who has also worked on albums for

the White Stripes The White Stripes were an American Rock music, rock duo formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (guitar, keyboards, piano, vocals) and Meg White (drums, percussion, vocals). They were a leading group of 2000s indi ...

the Zutons The Zutons are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool, in 2002. The band currently consists of Dave McCabe (vocals, guitar), Abi Harding (saxophone), Jay Lewis (guitar), Neil Bradley (keyboards) and Tim Cunningham (bass). The band's ...

, and

the Kills The Kills are an English-American rock music, rock duo formed by American singer Alison Mosshart, Alison "VV" Mosshart and English guitarist Jamie Hince, Jamie "Hotel" Hince. They are signed to Domino Recording Company, Domino Records. Their fi ...

. All tracks on ''The Greatest White Liar'' were written and composed by Nic Armstrong, with the exception of "Down Home Girl" and "I Want to Be Your Driver". Armstrong played the majority of the instruments and all vocals found on the recordings, with the exception of one backing vocal overdub. Jonny Aitken performed on drums. "She Changes Like The Weather" & "Back In That Room" was selected by

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initial ...

and

Pandemic Studios Pandemic Studios, LLC was an American video game developer based in Westwood, Los Angeles. Andrew Goldman and Josh Resnick founded the studio in 1998 after leaving Activision. Pandemic Studios, alongside BioWare, was acquired in 2005 by Elevation ...

, both now defunct, to feature in the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

of ''

Destroy All Humans! 2 ''Destroy All Humans! 2'' is a 2006 action-adventure video game developed by Pandemic Studios and published by THQ for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game is the sequel to '' Destroy All Humans!'' and the second installment in the '' Destroy All H ...

''. The song was also featured in the

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

, '' Moving McAllister''. "Down Home Girl" was featured in a

Honda Ridgeline The Honda Ridgeline is a mid-size pickup truck manufactured and marketed by Honda over two generations in a unibody, crew–cab, short-box configuration with a transverse-mounted engine. First generation (YK1; 2005) The first-generation Rid ...

commercial during

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2005 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh S ...

. The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Broken Mouth Blues" was directed by

Duncan Jones Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones (born 30 May 1971) is a British film director, film producer and screenwriter. He directed the films ''Moon'' (2009), ''Source Code'' (2011), '' Warcraft'' (2016), and '' Mute'' (2018). For ''Moon'', he won the BAFT ...

. In 2004,

Paul Weller John William Weller (born 25 May 1958), better known as Paul Weller, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame in the late 1970s as the guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of the rock band the Jam, alongside ...

invited Armstrong to open solo for him on his European tour, shortly after this Nic Armstrong & The Thieves joined Weller on a full UK tour. The band made its US debut at

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

and US network television debut on ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the The Late Late Show (American talk show), ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airi ...

'' in 2005, followed by performances at the

Coachella Festival Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorad ...

and

Austin City Limits Music Festival Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Zilker Park in Austin, Texas, on two consecutive three-day weekends and is inspired by the KLRU/PBS music series ''Austin City Limits''. The festival is pro ...

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Gallagher is the primary songwriter, lead guitarist and a co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis. After leaving Oasis, he formed Noel ...

to comment on the band's live show, "if they get their hair cut, they'll be one of the biggest bands in Britain. They're pretty special, man..." In 2006, under the band name, IV Thieves, New West Records released the album, ''If We Can't Escape My Pretty'' (titled after a limited edition Nic Armstrong song that was featured on a limited edition '' Dazen and Confused'' flexi-disk). Armstrong has worked on new material for both projects, his solo career and Nic Armstrong & The Thieves. There are no plans for any further IV Thieves release. Nic Armstrong is a British singer-songwriter, musician, painter and public artist. After writing and recording ''The Greatest White Liar'' album he founded the band Nic Armstrong & The Thieves, and released ''Nic Armstrong & The Thieves' Pocketless Shirt'' EP in November 2013. The six-track ''Pocketless Shirt'' EP was released in November 2013. The six-track album was recorded at Cacophony Recorders in Austin, TX with Grammy Award winner, Erik Wofford. Negative Slant EP was released in November 2015. Nic Armstrong & The Thieves have worked on a second album.

References

External links

Nic Armstrong (Official Website)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nic Armstrong and The Thieves English alternative rock groups