Single Review: Oh No :: He Said What? by Nothing But Thieves

Last year was a banner year for Nothing But Thieves. They topped the UK Album Charts with their fourth LP, Dead Club City, and BBC Radio One named its first song “Welcome To the DCC” its 2023 Hottest Record of the Year. 

Now the alt-rock quintet has released a new single, “Oh No :: He Said What?” It’s the first new track from their deluxe edition of Dead Club City, set to release March 15. 

The track sits firmly in the album’s concept of a mysterious city-sized members-only club that promises “all the heaven, all the time.” After an apparent uprising in the album’s final track, “Pop The Balloon,” “Oh No” re-opens the door to a dystopia disguised as salvation. 

A head-nodding guitar riff somehow evocative of both “Thriller” and the Peter Gunn theme opens the song, before Mason’s clear falsetto floats in with lines like “I guess the future was a bad idea” and “So did you find that thing you're looking for? / Does it make you feel alive?” – setting a feeling of dread that carries through the track, despite its bouncy guitars and dance-beat synthesizers. 

The band have said that they don’t shy away from writing big choruses, and this one’s no exception. You’ll be whistling the high, sliding “He said what?” fading into the rhythmic “Oh no / We have lost control / Have you seen the video?” the rest of the week. 

Typical of the band’s eclectic style, the track melds early 80’s synths and disco beats with soul vocals and grungy, glam guitars. 

“In my early years at university I loved glam rock, like Guns ‘n’ Roses and Motley Crue,” said guitarist Joe Langridge-Brown, speaking Monday on BBC One’s Future Sounds. “They decided to try and beat it out of me [in] the band. Now I feel like I’m crawling my way back with this one.”

“There’s a little bit of 80’s hair-metal in this,” admitted Mason. 

And it’s true: A big glam guitar solo under Mason’s rhythmic R&B vocals in the bridge might be the best part of the song. 

Look out for this deluxe version March 15, because the rest of the Dead Club City might, as one BBC Radio One listener claimed about the song, become your entire personality. 

Memorable lyric: 'There ain't no prizes for the kindest heart / But I'll make you rich if you subscribe'

Listen for: The gorgeous glam guitar in the bridge