Not long after the release of Sawyer’s Signals/Sounds, the Boston group was forced to take a change of direction following the departure of their lead singer and keyboardist. The remaining members – Aaron Benson (guitars/backing vocals), Tyler Littwin (lead vocals/guitar), Todd Dahlhoff (bass/backing vocals), and Mike Cotter (drums) – emerged as Thick as Thieves and now, one year after Sawyer’s demise, Thieves has a six-song disc to share their work as a quartet.

The self-titled EP is clearly the work of a skilled band, but it takes a minute before Thick as Thieves delivers the goods. Introductory track "Overshore", with its incredibly dreamy (i.e. new age-y) feel and distant, washed out spoken vocal segment lacks cohesion with the remaining five tracks and comes off as a bit self-indulgent. The remaining songs demonstrate focused songwriting capable of packing a plethora of ideas.

Although an average track length under four minutes isn’t usually the mark of what would be described as epic, these compositions are certainly worthy of the label. The group seamlessly transitions between numerous musical themes creating dynamic soundscapes and an engrossing musical experience sure to make listeners thankful that the quartet chose to form Thick as Thieves following the dissolution of Sawyer.