The Thrills - Let'sBottle Bohemia

Mon 15th Nov, 2004 in Music Reviews

What’s most noticeable about Irish band The Thrills is irrefutably the unusual voice of the band’s principal songwriter and frontman Conor Deasy. Deasy’s voice actually manifests itself as more unique with successive listens: distinctive yet still easy to listen to in the same vein as Drawn Boy’s equally alluring vocals. In fact, the opening track on The Thrills new album Let’s Bottle Bohemia, Tell Me Something I Don’t Know sounds quite remarkably like Badly Drawn Boy’s Silent Sigh from the score written specifically for the film ‘About A Boy’.

The sound on Let’s Bottle Bohemia and indeed on all of the band’s releases is overwhelmingly upbeat. There’s certainly nothing overtly pensive about The Thrills: saccharine harmonies, cascading melodies that gradually build and strategically placed “oh oh oh’s” for the listener to latch onto. That said, Deasy’s voice is infused with a certain bitterness. His breathy, near-whisper suits perfectly the albums prevalent lyrical themes of regret and disaffected memories. Said themes are a common thread throughout the album, apparent even in the first track.

No one ever chew off their leg
to escape with no hint of regret
but I know that you’re thinking
...so long fools

Moreover, the challenge of dealing with the past -epitomised in the lyrics of You Can’t Fool Old Friends With Limousines – sum up wholly the album’s general feel.

you just laughed and said
no one here forgets your past

While Deasy’s lyrics betray a level of dissatisfaction and restlessness, his laments are always balanced by a honeyed harmony or well-placed “yeah, yeah yeah’s” such as in the track Faded Beauty Queens so as to ensure that the mood never quite reaches melancholy. The strings on the band’s sophomore effort occasionally soar and float in the style of The Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev and fittingly, The Thrills lyrics are similarly obscure. In fact, the Deasy’s words appear often to be randomly chosen although to his credit, never compromise on sincerity to which Not For All The Love in The World attests.

Pipe dreams fade
and all the underdogs get laid
left your heart in the hands of a juggling clown

With their second full-length release, The Thrills prove that they’re able to maintain accessibility (and indeed radio affability to which single What Ever Happened To Corey Haim will testify) while still remaining oblique enough in parts to maintain listener interest. While undeniably catchy and instantly appealing it’s not clear that Let’s Bottle Bohemia will have a significant shelf-life. More pertinently, it seems that perhaps what The Thrills gain in immediate charm they may lose in longevity. What The Thrills do they certainly do well, however, the Irish five-piece simply don’t offer all that much or, at least, all that they possibly could.