The Thrills - Teenager

Virgin

They’re dream-catchers. On debut album, ‘So Much For The City’, The Thrills giddily pursued the American Dream, the Californian sunshine sparking a fire in their hearts. By the time of ‘Let’s Bottle Bohemia’ they had realised that the glimmer in the distance was a mirage, they had been blinded by the light, caught California dreamin’. The Dubliners had reached an impasse; false hope or true bitterness, neither prospect seemed particularly palatable. They needed to return to the wellspring of rock ‘n’ roll, to catch themselves a teenage dream, so hard to beat. With producer Tony Hoffer they’ve done just that, their ‘Midnight Choir’ singing a hymn to adolescence. This is a record in emotional flux, sullen, starry-eyed, righteous and romantic, all in the breadth of a verse-chorus-verse, The Thrills playing the role of the titular ‘Teenager’ to perfection. But it’s the sense of yearning, the nostalgia that will really get you. Just listen to the crack in Conor Deasy’s voice as he ponders youth lost and passions thwarted, the man with the teenager in his eyes, so desperate to “go back”. Ironically, given the subject matter, ‘Teenager’ is their most mature record yet, complexity masquerading as simplicity, impeccably arranged, brimming with alluring melodies and rock hooks. Maybe then this “year will be their year”, the year dreams become reality.

Words_ Francis Jones

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DOWNLOAD: ‘Nothing Changes Around Here’, ‘I Came All This Way’, ‘Teenager’

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