The Thrills certainly aren’t shy about their influences. In fact, their highly acclaimed debut, So Much For The City, is such a familiar first time listen, you could mistakenly assume this Dublin quintet owes out a few royalty fees. But when lead singer Conor Deasy sings, “hey, hey you’re the monkees/people said you monkee’d around,” with his silvery wail – a welcoming nostalgic effect radiates, rather than copyright infringement paranoia.
Add a dreamy smack of easy-going tunefulness to the mix, along with a number of well placed oohs and ahhs, and subtle eclectic instruments like organ and banjo in all the right spots, So Much For The City sounds years beyond a first album. Along with shiny tunes with titles like, “Big Sur,” “Santa Cruz,” “Hollywood Kids” and “Your Love Is Like Las Vegas,” the Thrills are California’s biggest rock ambassador this side of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Enlivening this brand of Californication is of course the sticky melodies that rustle a breeze of Neil Young, Jackson Browne and The Eagles early 70’s country folk, along with a bit of the Beach Boys 60’s pop-rock cabaret. The majestic Pacific Ocean and laid back west coast culture may have easily had an effect on the band, but still they aren’t shy about those influences.
It’s kind of hard to say,” explains The Thrills multi-instrumentalist Daniel Ryan. “Maybe Sunflower, by the Beach Boys, that was an album we listened to quite a lot. There were a couple other classic albums. We listened to After the Gold Rush by Neil Young.”
Their intuitive biography is that The Thrills- led by childhood friends Ryan and Deasy – took a holiday to the San Diego side of the Golden State and did a little bit of California dreaming in the summer of ’99. While soaking up four months of good vibes, the group, later to become The Thrills, rented out a place on the beach, and decided to live out the music they grew up listening to – that of the mid 60’s and 70’s west coast sound. Upon returning to Dublin, the band gradually yielded the aura of their four-month holiday onto record, ultimately ending up with a series of demos, later to sign a deal with a tiny local label. But true to the state of the business these days, they were eventually dropped just two months before signing with Virgin Records.
“It was a good thing for us [though],” explains Ryan. “We learned from it, and learned from our mistakes early on. It gave us a kick and taught us that we needed to work harder.”
Although The Thrills hadn’t even played gigs together as “The Thrills” before signing a record deal, the strength of these California inspired songs allowed them to turn the corner and grab charismatic frontman Morrissey’s attention – later opening for him on tour. Not too shabby a gig for these Ireland natives, that are self-professed Smiths fans.
“When we wrote the songs, we were nowhere near getting a record deal,” Ryan notes. “So we weren’t really thinking about an album at all. We had them all finished but one. We finally had an idea of what would make a good album, and it fell together.”
In late 2003, So Much For The City became official and after its release, immediately began to occupy a Dark Side of the Moon effect of continual accessibility. Although the album is constantly being discovered and undoubtedly has an indefinite staying power similar to the Pink Floyd classic, this powerful debut certainly shouldn’t be put in the same breathe as one the most prized albums in modern history. But as that album has done for years, this latest Ryan admits, “[is] the kind of record you can pick up at any stage and get into.”
Of late, the band has been partaking in an endless tour schedule, something that doesn’t bruise this eager bunch. It was just a few years ago they played a gig once every three months and spent that time anticipating the upcoming stage time. Now, The Thrills have entered the studio once again to begin working on a new release; one that surprisingly will have a different feel from its California pop predecessor.
“We wanted it to feel like a step up and make it feel like a second album, we didn’t want to pour over the same thing,” reveals Ryan. “We used a different producer and it worked out really well. We were thinking of Automatic for the People, when we recorded that album, as we all love that album. We just concentrated on recording 13 or 14 songs, it came out really well, but we’re nowhere near finished.”
Although everybody is proclaiming a love for The Thrills these days, even Lemmy from Motorhead, the band just hopes to stay relevant by making strong records – ones that Ryan describes as consistent and in line with those of Radiohead, Blur and R.E.M. Records that are timelessly relevant and hold up over an extended period of time – ala Dark Side of the Moon.
Never far from that discussion of influence, once more the topic arises. This time Ryan is quick to admit they are continually rooted in a pool of Americana nostalgia.
“A lot of people think all we listen to is Neil Young and The Beach Boys, but N.E.R.D. is probably our most listened to record of the last month or two. And we love Air as well.”
America is one thing, but when asked about his view on Dublin’s most famous band, U2, Ryan must confess. “It’s kind of a weird one, I was never a huge fan. I have all their records, but I think the last album they did, really didn’t do anything for me.”
The Thrills sound may be rooted a few oceans away from their homeland, but they have certainly pulled off a foretelling album, that while borrowing a rusty warmth, still sounds fresh in 2004. We can only hope the band’s staying power and curiosity mirrors that of their beloved California influences.
