The Thrills
Brixton Academy - London
Novemebr 24, 2004
By: Dominic Pierce -Toogood - ModernRock.com
It's easy to see tonight how The Thrills have gone from a jangly indie-pop combo with a fixation on the West Coast of the USA to one of the most important and vibrant young bands to come out of Europe in recent years. However, fame doesn't seem to fit so easily for the Dubliners with lead singer Conor Deasy looking as at home on stage as Ian Curtis (of Joy Division) used to on a bad day.
However, that does not detract from the quality of sound emanating from the stage. With a huge hit debut album behind them, (So Much For The City), followed by the darker and edgier, but just as accomplished, Let's Bottle Bohemia, the boys are able to come out with guns blazing, reeling off single after single, which, mainly due to the catchier nature of their first album, received extensive radio airplay.
Lots of couples are in attendance tonight which would prove that the female is equally at home listening to what are at times extremely moving ballads, ('Not For All The Love in the World' being the best), or tapping their feet to the sing-along pop of 'Big Sur'. However, there is a darker side to 'The Thrills' as when you scratch the surface of these seemingly innocent tunes and listen to the lyrics you may be surprised. Take the spiky lyrics on 'Your Love is like Las Vegas' for example, or 'Making teenage boys light up....like a Christmas tree' from the song 'Faded Beauty Queens' and we find the true, darker nature of the men behind the seemingly gentle men facades.
A funky, heavy bass version of 'One Horse Town' and a rocking version of 'Found My Rosebud' from the new album were just two highlights from this great last show of the tour. With a great booming version of 'Whatever Happened to Corey Haim?' which will hopefully become a successful single Stateside, these unassuming popsters are surely destined for big things. As Conor sang on 'Saturday Night', 'I'm just a man… not even a great one', well tonight all five of them came of age, long may they flourish in their new found maturity.
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