So Much For The City [Import]

Thrills (Ireland) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 6, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Emi Records Asia/Zoom
• Copy Protected
• ASIN: B00009YXAN
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #600,282 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

'So Much For The City' is the debut album by Dublin five-piece, The Thrills. Their sound is influenced by US West Coast acts of the 60's & 70's such as Buffalo Springfield & The Beach Boys - & the majority of the album was recorded in California. The sing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars To "Sur", With Love, August 9, 2003

By 

Pat Kelly (Here, There & Everywhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: So Much For The City (Audio CD)

There was a time in the early 1970's when music like this was so common we took it for granted. Poco. America. The Doobie Brothers. The Eagles. The Byrds. That easy-grooving, mellow rock that never sounded even remotely like a compromise between rock and mellow. That was, in the purest sense MUSIC.

Those times have gone, and only on rarest of occasions do we spot a glimmer of that which was. Acts like Split Enz who became Crowded House. The Housemartins who became the Beautiful South. Songs to tap your feet to without embarassment. Melodies to lift the soul. Hooks to sink your ears into. Words to carefreely join along with.

Welcome to this elite group, The Thrills. God knows where kids this age ever learned how to play like this - or even how a band from Dublin managed to score a magnu cum laude California sound.

Like David Gray's "Babylon", don't expect to even notice tracks like "Big Sur" the first time you hear it on the radio (unless your ear pricks up at that line about "Hey, hey, we're the monkeys"). At about the 3rd or 4th play, you'll start to pick up on it and by the 20th play, you'll be running out to buy the album.

And then it won't leave your CD changer for about a year.

My pick for Best New Act of 2003.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Thrills: Aptly Named, December 8, 2004

By 

M. Oatway "surf lover" (Riverview, NB, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: So Much For The City (Audio CD)

There is nothing about this recording that I don't like. The band is tight, and using a variety of instruments including synthesizers and banjo with a steel guitar sound drifting through the background of several songs, this Irish group can do the West Coast and Middle America scenes really well.

Much of the music is quiet and wishful, expressing a desire for the California scene: "Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)", "Big Sur" and "Hollywood Kids" - "Those Hollywood kids have it made". That continues on "'Til the Tide Creeps In": "I was surfing this tidal wave/ of faded glories/ A San Diego pad./ and five, six years walked straight by me".

The yearning for the California sun is coupled with a tinge of regret for what is, best expressed in, "One Horse Town" and "Your Love is Like Las Vegas": "You're like Pete Best/ Bitter after all these years, just let it go."

The recording is for everyone. Older listeners will be reminded of other groups who could harmonize: Buffalo Springfield, Cryan Shames, Poco and the Beach Boys. For younger listeners this will be really fresh, expressing universal sentiments. Much of it is quietly contemplative although the band does rock out on a couple of numbers. It features a good booklet, great lyrics and excellent music. You have to like it.

3.0 out of 5 stars More charming than thrilling, October 24, 2003

By 

Wickerlove "Wickerlove" (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: So Much For The City (Audio CD)

The Thrills have a folk rock sound with a retro 70's approach which they seem to capture in their cover for 'So Much For The City'. It's like these guys sat around listening to alot of AM California rock from the late 70's, eg, The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. Breezy sounds with the occasional organ, mandolin/banjo, piano, and harmonica. Just think the lazy melodies of Belle and Sebastian, the acoustic/folk tendencies of Badly Drawn Boy, meets the last 2 CD's of The Delgados.