After the massive success of Coldplay, something seems to have changed in guitar pop. Suddenly it is no longer forbidden to make shamelessly intimate songs and to color them in with ordinary instruments such as the piano and the acoustic guitar. The Thrills from Dublin add a banjo, pedal steel and beautiful polyphonic vocals to this, making the link with the west coast pop of The Beach Boys and the
… country rock of The Flying Burrito Brothers. The song structures used also reveal influences from typical indie favorites such as Pavement and The Smiths, in whose singer Morrissey the band has found a loyal fan. The debut album So Much For The City contains a number of promising songs (the opener Santa Cruz, One Horse Town) but fails to captivate the entire length. It is commendable that The Thrills want to keep their songs small, but not all compositions have irresistible melodies, which is a prerequisite for such an approach. The Thrills offer a fresh sound, but the promise is not yet fully fulfilled on this debut. (MS)more