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The Steal

The Steal
2006
Gravity DIP

The Steal - The Steal (Cover Artwork)

Review by: givemeamuseumandillf
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Published on June 27th 2006

Disclaimer: If you're a stereotypical user of the forums here on the 'Org, you're going to eat this up with a spoon, so quit wasting time and just buy it right now. But for those who don't spend hours and hours on here worshipping anything related to Dr. Dan Yemin, I'm going to sum this one up for you.

So, 4 guys from different local bands in the U.K. join forces to make something drastically different from their earlier outputs, and it's "bloody fantastic!" What the Steal offer is 15 tracks of straight-up, energetic punk music, proudly wearing its influences on its sleeve, with only two of them reaching the two-minute mark. But what sets them apart from other bands doing the same thing is the fact that they've turned up the catchiness knob to 11, without turning down anything else to compensate. From the first opening fill on "Breakout" to the ridiculously happy 3/4 outro that finishes up this record in "Wonderstuff," The Steal is sure to be a hell of a home run with anyone who like their punk to be positive, energetic and extremly catchy without being cheesy.

With 15 tracks, the highlights are just too many to mention, but I'm going to go through some of them right now.

"The Steal" is seriously in the top 10 "songs written in the `00s;" just listen to the outro part -- if you're not rocking out while singing along by the end, you simply have no heart. *Little Dip" is 46 great seconds of ridiculously fast punk rock.

...You know what? I just went to listen to the record to refresh my memory, and now I'm back, 42 minutes later (that's 2 full listens, chaps). That's right, there's no point in listing the highlights because the record is just one giant highlight itself. Sadly, this band will never get the recognition it deserves, due to them being from the U.K. and the members of the band considering it as a "side project," but really, that's what makes it so good.

The Steal are just four guys having fun and playing music they grew up loving with true passion, how refreshing.

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Posted by miff on 2008-04-16 14:43:51
My Score:

my copy of this came with a sticker on the front proclaiming
"MEMBERS OF KID DYNAMITE, 7 SECONDS,MINOR THREAT AND GOOD CLEAN FUN...didn't reply when asked to supply quotes for this sticker"

Posted by ifyoumakeit on 2007-10-10 23:32:27

video of Wonderstuff on IYMI
http://www.ifyoumakeit.com/video/music/the-steal

Posted by insinceredave on 2006-07-24 07:21:09
My Score:

Finally got it yesterday and yes it does rock

Posted by vspunkroutine on 2006-07-01 08:01:19
My Score:

this rocks so hard

Posted by tapemarks_and_brakelights on 2006-06-29 10:30:18
My Score:

this album is the shit.

Posted by almostpunkenough on 2006-06-29 05:59:43
My Score:

dear god this is as kickass as it comes.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 28, 2006 at 6:21 PM (EDT)

somebody get this on soulseek

Posted by Scruffy on 2006-06-28 13:12:36

Thanks.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 28, 2006 at 10:57 AM (EDT)
My Score:

www.thesteal.co.uk

www.myspace.com/thesteal

Posted by DarrenMcLeod on 2006-06-27 21:45:25

this sounds fantastic. i need to find a copy of it.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 27, 2006 at 8:12 PM (EDT)

i love rich.

i love this band.

i love that they're getting some 'merican media mentions. maybe they'll come over for a bit.

Posted by Mute98 on 2006-06-27 16:11:00

nice review! i saw this on kray a while back and loved it

Posted by Scruffy on 2006-06-27 13:29:56

Where's a link to their page. I don't want to have to do, you know, work.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 27, 2006 at 11:37 AM (EDT)

I'd give this a 10 for the pure class of the songwriting.

Seriously one of the best straightforward punk rock records I've heard in years.

Posted by givemeamuseumandillfillit on 2006-06-27 10:52:08

Will: I did praise it, but it's just a fun record, it's not profound, it's not progressive, it simply wears its influences on its sleeve.

And i gotta compare this to the other bands i love in the genre, and if "positively positive", "harder, faster, louder" or "the crew" is nines or tens in this genre for me, then this is an 8, or maybe possibly a strong 7.

This band does simply not take themselves too serious and simply love this kind of music, so even though there's some pats that could be better, it just shows their genuine love of the genre. That's what i meant about it all being a highlight.

Posted by insinceredave on 2006-06-27 07:02:54
My Score:

This guys right, they played in my town last week and i've gotta say they were pretty awesome

insincere dave (being sincere again)

Posted by Ozzie_Guillen on 2006-06-27 01:30:29

Me gusta the steal. Small-ball won us the World Series last year, and it will do so again this year.

Dr. Dan is a fucking fag.

Posted by williammarinovic on 2006-06-27 01:09:48

I know people try to avoid handing out 9s and 10s, but the record you describe deserves one of those. If it's just an 8, what's the problem with it?

Posted by inagreendase on 2006-06-27 01:01:27

This album is so fucking fun.