CityLife

Interview: Bicycle Thieves

Bicycle Thieves

BICYCLE Thieves may be little more than a year old, but their story already befits a band on the cusp of something special.

From the day of their first gig supporting The Rascals at the Ruby Lounge, press and bloggers have been falling over themselves to hail Liverpool’s next great band, with endorsement even coming from this end of the M62 in the shape of Liam Fray and professional Mancunian Terry Christian.

Speaking after Bicycle Thieves’ debut London show at the WET records launch party, singer Tom Hammersley, complete with endearing Wolverhampton accent, contemplates a thrilling year that has seen his band go from bedroom to Glastonbury via, of all places, Dubai.

“It’s been mad,” he laughs with an air of understatement.

“It seems like the right time, although we have worried that things are happening too soon.

“It’s been a great year, but it’s been difficult. We went from playing in our practice room to playing live to big crowds really quickly, and we had to learn as we went along.

“We were supporting Pete Doherty at our fourth gig. But we pulled through.”

Concerns over the pace of progress are valid. Bicycle Thieves were formed as a five-piece in November 2008 following Hammersley’s scatter-gun recruitment policy, which included coercing guitarist Jim Reynolds, formerly of The Open, to come for a jam after he spotted him flyering on the street in Liverpool.

As songs began to pour and gigs became hyped events, the band were tipped to follow Editors and – God forbid – White Lies into the mainstream, but those comparisons are ill-judged: for starters, Bicycle Thieves don’t peddle in contrived emotion and faux gloom, but rather genuine anxieties and romantic hopelessness.

Storming festival performances

“Songs are basically a diary of two weeks of thoughts,” he admits.

“The things that keep you awake at night.

“I’ll just wake up and have to write something down, and they all go into the songs.

“They are definitely personal. If you’re going to keep playing live and singing them over again, they’ve got to mean something to you, otherwise, what’s the point?”

That intensity exudes through the music. Debut single Stop To Start, named as one of the top 10 singles of 2009 by the now sadly defunct teletext music service Planet Sound, is a perfectly constructed rock juggernaught, reminiscent of Echo And The Bunnymen at their swaggering peak, while its accompanying b-side, Camera Shy, has the colossally sonic bluster of early Verve, not to mention a similarly ruthless ambitious streak.

“That’s the benchmark. We want to go as far as possible. We know we’ve got a big sound with three guitars, it’s epic and we want to take it as far as we can. We want to play big stages, with people putting their pint glasses in the air because they get into it.”

As a succession of storming festival performances demonstrate, people have responded desirably, even in the bizarre surroundings of the inaugural Dubai Sound Festival last November.

“It was crazy. Unknown bands being flown out and put up in hotels before they’ve got any following.

“It was a weird place, a complex where you weren’t meant to be drinking, but Happy Mondays were playing,” he laughs.

“There were no locals, just drunk ex-pats. It suited us fine.”

So with foundations laid, what can we expect in 2010? The great album Bicycle Thieves are clearly capable of?

“It’s the dream, but we’re wary of the pitfalls. Look at Joe Lean. There was lots of hype, a big record deal and then what? Nothing. We’ve got the songs; we need to do them justice. But I’m sure we can.”

Bicycle Thieves play Jabez Clegg, Portsmouth Street, Manchester - January 30, 2010 - 8pm.