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What I love about the psychy sounds of the 60’s is that even after all these years of loving and collecting it, there is still more to discover! Take today’s song for example! Obscure and lost in time, the only 45 released by this band……and who were they? Who were The Thief? I have no idea and cannot track down any information about them! Even the B-side to their one and only offering isn’t available anywhere online to listen to, so what we have here is a rare and rather delicious slice of 1960’s garage rock history.
Written by Stan House, The Motion released The Thief on Hollywood’s Dore label (founded in 1958 by Herb Newman and Louis Bideu as a companion to their Era label) in 1966. Nothing was ever released after and the band were never to be seen or heard again, which is a crying shame! I especially love the lyrics to The Thief; they aren’t about tainted/unrequited love or any of the usual things. This is a song about a man who finds himself confronted with an armed assailant who wishes to rob him. After an exchange (and an edgy laugh) the tables seem to turn as the robber’s potential loots uncovers a “Dead Cat In a Bag/I Had an Ugly Wife Who Could Nag”….of course!! Nevertheless, this doesn’t seem to save the victim who is gets shot regardless and so ends the song! It’s one that definitely keeps you guessing and comes with the added bonus of cracking fuzz guitars, smooth vocal narrative and a whizz of tambourine and percussive layers. Check it out above.
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