- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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UncutThis is the best childhood summer holiday you ever had, condensed into 45 minutes of delicately arranged, beautifully performed, big, bright, cheery music. [Jul 2003, p.118]
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The smart pop hook chops displayed on So Much For the City make it clear that this is one retro-minded band that may just make it to the future.
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FilterA modern day West Coast classic. [#7, p.90]
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Gentle harmonies and twinkling keys dot most every track, and Conor Deasy's relaxed vocals never get in the way of the band's engaging melodies.
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Sure, the lyrics are a bit weak at times, but when a band's having this much fun, you can't help but want to join in.
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Entertainment WeeklyIt's hard to take them too seriously, but their convincing tribute to Neil Young and the Byrds is still quite lovely. [15 Aug 2003, p.74]
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SpinHigh grade West Coast guitar pop. [Dec 2003, p.131]
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Q MagazineGenuinely and heart-stoppingly bittersweet. [jul 2003, p.112]
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At times a beautifully rendered album with surprisingly solid songwriting; it's an unashamedly nostalgic musical postcard from the American West Coast.
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MojoTop-down pop that sparkles like a lifeguard's teeth. [Jul 2003, p.109]
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Under The RadarSometimes, the cheesy Americana is spread on too thick.... But turn the music up a bit louder, and all is forgiven. [#5, p.103]
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The Thrills' sound is a marvel of kaleidoscopic ambition and fervor, as enthralled with production intricacies as it is with the pleasures of simple melody.
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This is a great album, choc-a-bloc with great hooks, melodies and harmonies that evoke the great songwriting of the 70s.
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So Much for the City is dragged down by a handful of meandering slow songs, but a group of Cali-bred beach bums with an armload of Neil Young records couldn't have done much better -- and that's a compliment.
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The Thrills' external, sometime vaccuous pinching is clearly self-conscious, a carefully premeditated breach of expectation that causes more of a wince than a flash of pleasant surprise.
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The second half largely sounds like a lesser reprise of the first, as The Thrills' appropriation of older styles starts to feel less like inventive borrowing than a lack of imagination.
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BlenderIt's nicely done, but the relentless cheerfulness grates. [Nov 2003, p.122]
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Sure, this is a very *accomplished* album by a band who can play their instruments: organs, pianos and strings sit gracefully beside each other, and there are some deft vocal harmonies, but The Thrills simply dont have the songwriting skill or the sheer personality to make this anything more than a passable debut.
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[A] sentimental cutesification of surf and country.
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The choice, folks, is all yours. Would you like The Thrills? Or would you prefer some excitement instead?
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A deadly naivete infects the songs, wonderful if the concept was to bring sleep, but otherwise limp.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 12 out of 16
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Mixed: 1 out of 16
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Negative: 3 out of 16
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Jun 8, 2012
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LiamMJan 6, 2004Feel good music....which we all need from time to time.
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LiamMJan 6, 2004Feel good music....which we all need from time to time.