It's only been a year since those young Irish lads, The Thrills, released their much-hyped debut album So Much For The City. A blend of Byrds country rock and Beach Boys harmonies, melded with Conor Deasy's vocal lilt similar to that of Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips. Let's Bottle Bohemia is a quick follow-up that was written out on the road in an obvious attempt to cash-in on the buzz of the first record, and without a doubt, it certainly does feel rushed. So much so that the attraction that grabbed listeners in the first place with their first album, will probably alienate and bore them to tears here. While Let's Bottle Bohemia is musically sound, it sounds entirely too much like its predacessor for its own good.
There is also another downside to Bohemia that is far worse than just similar sounding riffs. On So Much For The City, the most appealing aspect was listening to doe eyed foreigners moving to San Diego and writing songs about culture shock and life on the West Coast. On Let's Bottle Bohemia, the cuteness of naivete is gone, and in its place are lyrics that seem almost poseurish and lame. On the tediously titled What "Ever Happened To Corey Haim?," Deasy sings the awful line "I'm Paramount Pictures, I'm Andy Warhol without the peers. Hey, has-beens! I'm the American dream." It doesn't get any better from there either. "The Curse Of Comfort" has the pleasure of having ridiculous lines such as "The suburbs dream tonight of finding their muse, damn those rape victims and their five star reviews."
If, on future releases, The Thrills could at the very least tweak their sound just a little bit, I still think they have the musical talent that could take them to fame and fortune. But I think it's time for these boys to catch a flight back home, because with the songwriting well running dry, Let's Bottle Bohemia turns out to be anything but thrilling.
:: zBoneman.com Reader Comments ::