The Thrills are not another one of the garage-revivalist bands with the requisite “The” in the band title. They are a five-piece group from Dublin whose pop-rock songs unabashedly evoke The Monkees, The Beach Boys and other masters of the ‘60s craft that so galvanized the ladies. Too bad for The Thrills that they missed the mark by about forty years.
The band actually name-checks the Monkees in “Big Sur,” a carefully crafted tune. Lead singer Conor Deasy sings in a breathy whisper, “Hey, hey you’re the Monkees / People said you monkeyed around / But nobody’s listening now.” Given the song’s spaced-out synth intro and jangly banjo, it doesn’t rip-off the boys’ sound. These variations reveal The Thrills as having a skillful musicianship that the Monkees could never master.
Much of their subject matter draws on separation and desperation that only rain-soaked Irish fellows could feel for sunny California. “Deskchairs and Cigarettes” is a minimal experiment in delay and reverb. “Old Friends, New Lovers,” is built on contrast. Schmaltzy strings, sounding as if they were appropriated from a soundtrack, successfully accompany a guitar solo ?? la indie-rock favorites Pavement and a harmonica-outro that’ll make your ears bleed. “Hollywood Kids” longs for Tinseltown nostalgia, as Deasy whines over a lazy dobro and a clumsy piano, “Those Hollywood kids, those Hollywood kids got it made / So let’s party, Dustin Hoffman.”
Although Deasy’s high-pitch drawl precisely captures Neil Young at his worst, The Thrills are on to something. Maybe the secret is atmosphere and texture more than lyrical extroversion and clarity. While So Much For The City is an easily listenable and highly enjoyable debut, Deasy’s ‘poetry’ doesn’t quite live up to his bandmates’ soundscapes. He’d probably do better penning a “concept”album about something a little more familiar, thus bringing cohesion to a band that will probably never get the chance to show us its latent talent.
