| | |  | R&B | Home » » » So Much for the City | | | | | | | Description: | | Dublin Has Produced a Fair Number of Bands that Make Music with a Universal Appeal to Many Far Beyond the Banks of the Emerald Isle. The Thrills Join that Roster with this Debut Album. Their Sound Though May Be a Bit Surprising to the Uninitiated as it is Unabashedly Rooted in the California Sounds of Brian Wilson Mixed with a Fair Amount of the Beatles and 70's Pop Bands as Well. Derivative? Maybe...but It Really Works...and Works Quite Well, Thank You Very Much. EMI Are So Proud of These Guys that They were Ushered Into Abbey Road to Record the Album on Much of the Same Equipment as Many of their Heroes. You Can Now Hear the Results on this Sparkling Initial Bow to the World. | | | Product Details: | | | Audio CD Release Date:
| November 04, 2003 | | Studio:
| Virgin | | Number Of Discs:
| 1 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 77 reviews |
| | | Track Listing: | | | 1. | Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far) [DVD Audio] | | 2. | Big Sur | | 3. | Don't Steal Our Sun | | 4. | Deckchairs and Cigarettes | | 5. | One Horse Town | | 6. | Old Friends, New Lovers | | 7. | Say It Ain't So | | 8. | Hollywood Kids | | 9. | Just Travelling Through | | 10. | Your Love Is Like Las Vegas | | 11. | 'Til the Tide Creeps In | |
| | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
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 Great debut albumJul 10, 2008
The thrills are one of mt fave bands, and this debut album is their best.
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thank youJan 22, 2008
just what i was looking for and shipped in time for the holiday. thank you
0 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Pre-Chewed Bubble GumDec 16, 2006
Take anything by the Beach Boys and filter through anything by The High Llamas and this is what you will get. Seven boys and girls with goofy retro haircuts have spent some time with their older cousin's stylish record collection and So Much For The City is the result. So, what do we learn fromt this collection of re-heated Beach Boy tunes? We learn that California is so very cool, as if the LA riots and crack houses never existed and if the US wasn't turning into police state. No, these kids have been touring in their gas guzzling Buick Roadmaster wagon, sucking on their Bud and Marlboro Lights and, sadly, writing all about it. Avoid this stale, pre-chewed bubble gum at all costs and head directly to the High Llamas and then on back to Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys. This is perfect music for anyone unconcerned with creativity and how it might be used to report back to us about real life and experience. Your friend with the centre parting and no political views will love it though.
 Far, Far Away (From Dublin)Jul 17, 2006
Imagine for a moment if Wilco hailed from Ireland and harbored a fixation with California sunshine pop. Sounds intriguing, huh? Trust me, it's not.
So Much For the City is an almost entirely dull affair, full of uninspired songwriting and generally devoid of memorable melodies. In a comically affected "American" accent, singer Connor Deasy croaks about the banalities of life in paradisiacal Southern California. He's laughing and dancing "'til the tide creeps in", offering to pay people off if only they'll promise not to "steal our sun", fretting that his "baby" is contemplating a "move down to L.A." because he's such a slacker. His band plods along behind him so listlessly that the listener feels almost obligated to fast forward through many of the tracks.
Every once in awhile the grim proceedings are enlivened unexpectedly by a song suggesting the Thrills have some potential. At least half the people who try listening to this album, will probably not even make it all the way through the lugubrious opener "Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)". However, those that persevere will be rewarded with the quality beach pop of the next song, "Big Sur" - ignore the nonsensical Monkees-referencing lyrics and you'll find yourself enjoying a song that could have been a radio hit in the 1970s. Unfortunately, there are only a handful of other songs worth repeated listening scattered throughout the remainder of the album - "One Horse Town", "Your Love Is Like Las Vegas", and "'Til the Tide Creeps In". The common theme of the good songs on So Much For the City is that all but "'Til the Tide Creeps In" are up-tempo, a style that clearly suits the Thrills more than the dreary dirges they seem to favor.
Despite my generally negative review, the Thrills show some promise for the future - the several quality songs really are very good, which is certainly preferable to an album packed with consistently mediocre songs. Still, unless they come up with an album full of Hotel California-quality songs at some point, it is probably always going to be difficult to get past the pretentiousness of four Irishmen pretending to be SoCal beach bums.
 Better than most but incompleteMay 01, 2006
Like so many albums these days, this one is front-loaded, with the better and more completely-produced songs at the beginning and the degree of finish tapering off as you go. Why they didn't spend the time to make the whole thing equally "good," I'll never know. Anyhow, the melodies are catchy, and the gimmicky production is fetching. Better than 95 percent of the music I've been connected to through Amazon. The recording on some of the songs is quite crystalline, with very clear sonic placement and character. An unusual choice of voicings and locations in the harmonies adds a mysterious appeal.
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