Already debuting its sophomore album, the Dublin quintet The Thrills is surmounting the charts and increasing its fan base with eccentric song collections and masterful artistry.
Growing both lyrically and musically, The Thrills has evolved tremendously through the course of just one year and two albums. Establishing a name for The Thrills, So Much for the City grabbed the attention of music enthusiasts and radio-listeners alike. As Let’s Bottle Bohemia, the quintet’s second album, debuts, the lyrics and rhythms have more of an edge, a change from the upbeat pop/rock saturated tunes from the first album.
Maturing and gaining confidence as a band, The Thrills tours the U.S. with the Pixies promoting its second album. Guitarist Daniel Ryan, who has been playing since he was 10, says “You can’t expect too much [from touring], you just have to enjoy it and play where the Pixies are. If we play at home in Dublin, the crowd is always ready – our next show is 10,000, I believe.”
Since The Thrills’ signing with Virgin Records in September 2001, both the press and fans have been going crazy. “One time in Japan about two hours after the show, some weird girl came up to me and just punched me in the face. It was really weird,” Ryan said.
Musically speaking, Let’s Bottle Bohemia shows the evolution of the band finding its true feelings through its music. Having just been released a year after the first album, Ryan states that the album actually took seven weeks to record and mix, with a little extra time for fixing and changing. This forward step, although seemingly a bit hurried, captures the more intense aspect of the band. Lyrically open with a rich sound, Ryan says that inspiration comes from “lots of different things, music, movies, anything really. Anything Paul Thomas Anderson, The Deer Hunt, Taxi Driver.”
Confirming the already-defined talent of band, Let’s Bottle Bohemia is a powerful album with consistently solid tracks. Despite the constantly increasing genre of modern rock that includes bands such as Jet, Franz Ferdinand, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Thrills is marking its territory.
“We like to put out records for a few more years, make the best records we can and then take a break,” says Ryan. “We don’t want to be part of a scene, we want to just keep releasing good records.”
As for now the boys of The Thrills are enjoying life, making music, traveling, and of course, partying. “Once you get your records out, that’s it. It’s a once in a life time experience, we’re very lucky,” Ryan said.
Listen: So Much for the City and Let’s Bottle Bohemia – The Thrills play Florida Oct. 8 through 10 in Tampa, Boca Raton, and Orlando.
Joanna Davila can be contacted at j.davila1@umiami.edu.