After his girlfriend sent a cassette of songs to a magazine unbeknownst to him, singer/songwriter and guitarist Nic Armstrong suddenly found himself with a record deal. But to record a proper album and play the subsequent gigs, Armstrong needed a band, so he gathered up some guys from around his base in Nottingham, England -- drummer Jonny Aitken, bassist Shane Lawlor, and guitarist Glynn Wedgewood. Armstrong released the resulting album, The Greatest White Liar, in mid-2004 through One Little Indian under his own name, though by the time the '60s British blues-influenced record made its way to stateside shelves a year later, it was now listed under Nic Armstrong & the Thieves. A supporting tour under the same name found the gang quickly developing into a democracy of songwriters (and vocalists) instead of just playing music that was the product of only one Armstrong. Thus, as the quartet tore up American and U.K. stages alike alongside Oasis, Jet, Razorlight, the Ravonettes, and more, a permanent moniker change was made to IV Thieves. Somehow, not only did the four Brits play 2005's SXSW Festival in Austin, TX, but soon enough found themselves settling down there to live and finish writing their first official album as IV Thieves. When they finally emerged from the studio with the Oasis-like guitar rock of If We Can't Escape My Pretty, they hit the road, including U.S. dates with the Pretenders. High praise from numerous blogs and press led up to the album's eventual fall 2006 release on New West Records. By that time, Elliott Frazier was handling the IV Thieves' drum kit. ~ Corey Apar