Local Review: The Highway Thieves – Self-titled

The Highway Thieves
Self-titled

Self-Released
Street: 07.22.15
The Highway Thieves = Justin Townes Earle + John Mellencamp + Tim Barry

So we start out on this EP with a smoky blues lounge tune that felt disingenuous even to me—and completely out of the realm of The Highway Thieves’ spectrum—and right after we dive right into country rock territory where things feel a lot more comfortable for the band. There’s talent in this band, but oh boy are they constantly swinging for the fences emotionally, which gets tiresome. I applaud the saxophone on “Time Machine” or even the strange flute that runs through the song “Posseshun,” but the record runs all over the place, and very little of it feels honest—almost like the songs are approximations of other songs. I would be interested to hear them live to see if more stripped-down versions of these tunes would have much more impact. –James Orme