Customer Reviews

So Much for the City

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

At a time when losing hope in America is fashionable, it's refreshing to see that that great country can still inspire people to create such wonderful music. Southern California'll do that to you, if you let it, and it seems that The Thrills have eagerly taken on the sounds of summer on the west coast.

As mentioned in other reviews, the vocals on this disc are brilliant. Conor Deasy adopts an admirable accent (I can't tell he's from Dublin), and sings to his (and hopefully your) heart's content. His voice reminds me most of Jason Lytle, the lead singer of a great California band you might know called Grandaddy. After that, I can see the previous comparisons to Neil Young et al.

Now, as for the CD as a whole, it's a treat! If you've heard The Shins, Beachwood Sparks, Beulah, The Beach Boys, Grandaddy, Apples in Stereo, or just about any of the E6 Collective bands, and enjoyed their albums, you'll totally dig this disc. Or, if you already enjoy The Thrills, make sure you check out some of, no, all of those bands. So Much For the City is a laid-back Sunday evening on the beach, without being as sad and bluesy as Young's On the Beach. It's a cuddly, energetic puppy without that tint of insanity Wilson brings out in Pet Sounds. It's a darn good album!

This album is like listening to sunshine. As radiant with melody as "Pet Sounds" or "Younger Than Yesterday," "So Much for the City" is neither too derivative of its influences nor too removed from them to rival their majesty. That this album would be considered a landmark of rock 'n roll had it been released in the late 60s may make a case for the criticism it gets as self-conscious -- but tell me what art is NOT self conscious? All art is in some way derivative of some particular sphere of influence, otherwise it could not exist. And anyway, if self-consciousness sounds this gorgeous, I'll take it over confidence any day of the week. These guys get it just right: a perfect balance of explosiveness ("One Horse Town"; "Don't Steal Our Sun") and restraint ("Deckchairs and Cigarettes"; "'Til The Tide Comes In"). However, I think that critics who accuse The Thrills of of an overwhelming awareness of their roots are actually responding to the album's considerable loss of momentum towards the second half. Suddenly the crackling melodies are replaced by vaguely interesting organ solos, drum beats and a scant few guitar licks. Songs like "Old Friends, New Lovers" or "Hollywood Kids" tend to meander where earlier tracks knew exactly where they wanted to go and got there in a hurry, and the result is a kind of tired and inferior rehashing of well-worn musical territory. But the glorious and resounding bursts of harmonica and organ on the closer, "'Til The Tide Creeps In" are so moving as to resurrect the entire album into a near-masterpiece. Indeed I think it is just that: an album that aspires toward immortality and only misses by a hair.

Remember the sheer, unadulterated joy of love at first sight? The real thing: heart thumping, stomach sinking intensity as you lose yourself in the depths of those endless brown eyes? That moment hits exactly 43 seconds into this stunning debut album from Dublin's The Thrills.

In the opening "Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)" the harmonies kick in on the first "far" and you are lost, swept away on a wave of melody and passion that keeps up throughout the album. This is a record that reminds you of why you devoted yourself to rock'n'roll in the first place. After forty years of listening, a sound can still emerge to captivate your soul, swell your heart and put a smile on your face all day long. The Thrills show you that music does still matter.

It's an album that sparkles and shines under a summer sun, capturing the subtlety of a soft evening breeze, the easy laziness caught perfectly in Conor Deasy's languid, beguiling request to "don't change a thing" in "Deckchairs and Cigarettes". You keep returning to the unique sound of Deasy's vocals, somehow timeless and indescribable, and always absolutely perfect for the song. It's a rare feat on a debut album to achieve such a depth of sound, and producer Tony Hoffer must get credit for leading such a new band through the recording process so effectively.

The songs are gems, echoing the band's experience of both Dublin and California, without ever becoming a pale imitation of either. "One Horse Town" has a chorus that has you singing along from the first listen, "Old Friends, New Lovers" starts like a James Bond outtake before unwinding into a heartbreaking chorus, while "Your Love Is Like Las Vegas" contains the truly wonderful put down, "Your love is like a city I visited...I could only afford one weekend".

It's unfair to single out individual songs on what is an inspirational collection that needs to be listened to in its entirety for maximum impact. It's exciting, powerful and life-affirming music that really does sweep you to any place you prefer to be. As a debut album I have no doubt it will eventually rank right up there with the greats, the start of a body of work that will place The Thrills on a par with their musical inspirations.

Absolutely recommended.

Along with Fountains of Wayne's "Welcome Interstate Managers," Endgames' "Daybreak to Sunset" and The Jayhawks' "Rainy Day Music"...this is one of the best albums of 2003. A masterpiece. Every song is terrific. You never reach for the skip button. In particular, "Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)," "Big Sur" and "One Horse Town" are a joy to listen to. Beautiful harmonies in the vein of the Beach Boys and Teenage Fanclub. Instrumentation is gorgeous. It's one of those albums that doesn't sound like it was made during any specific time period. It could have been in the 60's or today. Terrific!!!!

This ranks up there with "Electric Version" by the New Pornographers and "Welcome Interstate Managers" by Fountains of Wayne as one of the best CD's of 2003. I was thoroughly impressed by this entire album, as it is laid back with amazing harmonies that remind me a little bit of the Beach Boys and maybe even the Eagles. These are good summer tunes, and Conor Desay's breathless, poppy vocals are peaceful and mellow. The best songs on here are the more upbeat ones, in my opinion. It seems they have really mastered a 60's pop sound, especially on the songs Big Sur and Santa Cruz (You're Not that Far). One Horse Town is my favorite song from this CD; it sounds like a good 60's pop song, somewhere between the Monkees and the Beach Boys, and the instruments work together really nicely. Other standouts are Big Sur, Santa Cruz, Don't Steal Our Sun, and Say it Ain't So. Would be a good pick for anyone into pop music, especially 60's stuff (the Beach Boys, the Byrds, the Monkees, the Turtles), as these songs fit in this category rather nicely--not that they are exactly the same. The mood on this CD is a little more nostalgiac, but these guys still write good summery pop tunes.

After reading some of the critical reviews about the Thrills, I decided to add my own. I hate the way people compare them to a certain artist and then bash them for not sounding more like them. If you want to hear that artist, go out and buy them. I don't like to compare The Thrills to any other band because I that takes away from their own originality. I enjoy the band to a great extent. No, they're not going to change the world with their music but I enjoy some laid back music every now and again. The soothing sounds of Conor's voice is what hooked me when I heard them for the first time on Fordham University Radio. I felt that after hearing the tired repetition of what's on the radio these days, I heard a refreshing change. Seeing them live hooked me in even more and made my friend a new fan, along with 50 others enjoying the show. They're not fancy, just real down to earth music. You can hear that in the hidden last song's lyrics "Can't see you smiling pumping gas". Not looking for any deep profound meaning is just solid good music. They have good catchy hooks and every once in a while, I catch myself humming a one of their song and smile. Ahh... the simplicity of it all.

It's a shame I had to go all the way to London to hear The Thrills for the first time. The sound is pure Southern California. "So Much For the City" is the perfect music for kicking back with your friends with a few cold ones in the summer sun. If you're looking to escape all the punk/metal/pop one-hit-wonders that dominate the radio airwaves, this CD is for you.

You can hear The Thrills' influences, but their music is still original...especially compared to today's MTV-manufactured [stuff]. Standouts include "One Horse Town" (should be a U.S. single), "Big Sur" (reminds me of early R.E.M.) "Don't Steal Our Sun" (Beatles-esque), "Armchairs and Cigarettes" and "Say It Ain't So" (great steel guitar).

Bands like The Thrills (and especially Gomez) could be big over here if their record companies pushed for them like Radiohead's and Coldplay's do. Here's hoping a few big U.S. radio stations give them the chance they deserve.

There was a time in the early 1970's when music like this was so common we'd take it for granted. 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.

"Don't you know, you're like Pete Best.
Bitter after all these years
Just let it go."

-The Thrills, "Your Love is Like Las Vegas"

Nothing can bring this album down. I listen to it in my most cynical, downbeat moments, the kind of moments when you would rather have something alcoholic than a glass of water, when even if you were stranded in the middle of the desert, you would still take the booze. You play this album, and it starts mocking you. "What the hell is wrong with you?" It mocks, killing you with kindness, letting the sunlight shine into the dark cave where your self-induced frustrations lurk. If you live in Southern California, you take songs like, "Don't Steal Our Sun" and "Deckchairs and Cigarettes" personally. You think to yourself, "Why is this song so happy? It's unnecessarily happy. This is starting to bother me." Then you wonder why it's bothering you. "This shouldn't bother me," you protest. "I'm a positive, upbeat person." Yeah, right. You start to ask yourself whether you're taking your close proximity to a warm, sunny, palm tree laden, lazy beach paradise for granted. You realize that YOU'RE the problem, not the song. You begin to feel lucky. You actually enjoy the Thrills.

So they're from Dublin. Big deal. That doesn't make this band any less authentic. The Southern California aesthetic is arguably the most accessible in the world. It's not just a fantasy; it's a fantasy broadcast around the world. And if we're allowing an Austrian movie star to mess with our budget crisis, we shouldn't be feeling too stingy about an Irish band dabbling in sunny beach pop.

That said, this album isn't just a love affair with warm weather. It also explores the effects the optimal climate has on relationships. "Old Friends, New Lovers" laments the failed progression of romance beyond friend legacy. It makes you want a drink...but something weak with an umbrella...and a couple friends...and a cabana. Hurried country music efforts like "Say It Isn't So" and wandering ballads like "Just Traveling Through" generate enough nostalgia to hold up next to this album's colorful palette of influences (among the frequently mentioned: Beach Boys, Neil Young [I don't get that one], Fleetwood Mac). The standout track, "Santa Cruz," starts off slow and lazy but picks up with pace with happy face banjos and the pure, unavoidable force of optimism.

If you're not in a better mood by the end of the album, when the chorus to "Till the Tide Creeps In" keeps chanting, "we'll dance, dance till the tide creeps in...we'll laugh, laugh till the tide creeps in," like a self-help mantra, it's time to turn back to track uno and play it again. Especially if you live in Southern California. What's wrong with you? Don't steal our sun. We'll kill you with kindness. And smog. And traffic rage.

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