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The Thrills

From Alfawiki
The Thrills
Company typeBand
IndustryMusic
Founded2001 in Dublin, Ireland
FounderConor Deasy, Daniel Ryan, Padraic McMahon, Kevin Horan, Ben Carrigan
Headquarters
Dublin
,
Ireland
ProductsMusic albums, singles, EPs

The Thrills are a rock group from Ireland, established in Dublin in 2001 by lead singer Conor Deasy, guitarist Daniel Ryan, bassist Padraic McMahon, keyboardist Kevin Horan, and drummer Ben Carrigan. Their first album, So Much for the City, reached the top spot on the Irish charts and climbed to number three in the UK, earning platinum certifications in both countries. The band's musical style is heavily influenced by American pop from the late 1960s and early 1970s, characterized by what Pitchfork Media called an "ocean-soaked, harmony-heavy tribute to California's dreamy visions."

Early development and So Much for the City

The Thrills originated in Dublin's Blackrock area during the mid-1990s, initially performing under the name the Cheating Housewives. After spending four months in San Diego in 1999 crafting songs—including "One Horse Town"—they returned to Dublin to produce demos and pursued a record contract. They briefly signed with local label Supremo Records but were released without any official releases.

In 2001, while visiting San Francisco, the band adopted the name The Thrills and recorded demos that caught the attention of Bright Star Recordings and BMG Publishing. This interest led to offers from Rough Trade Records before they ultimately secured a deal with Virgin Records in September 2002, attracted by promises of creative freedom and the chance to record their debut album in Hollywood with producer Tony Hoffer.

After releasing their debut EP in November 2002, The Thrills recorded So Much for the City in Los Angeles. Released in 2003, the album achieved commercial success and critical praise. It was nominated for the Mercury Prize and earned them Best New Act awards at both the Q Awards and Irish Meteor Awards. In 2004, they received a European Border Breakers Award (EBBA) recognizing their international breakthrough with this debut.

Let's Bottle Bohemia

Their sophomore album, Let's Bottle Bohemia, came out in September 2004. Recorded in Los Angeles with producer Dave Sardy, it included orchestral arrangements by Van Dyke Parks and featured Peter Buck of R.E.M. playing mandolin. The album matched their initial success, debuting at number one in Ireland and reaching number nine on UK charts, propelled mainly by the single "Whatever Happened To Corey Haim?".

In 2004, The Thrills contributed to the Band Aid 20 charity initiative and performed "Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)" at Live 8's Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push concert; this performance was included on the event’s DVD release. Additionally, at the Irish Meteor Awards in 2005, they performed a medley alongside Ronnie Wood, blending their track "The Irish Keep Gatecrashing" with Rod Stewart’s "Maggie May".

The band also made an appearance on the American television series The OC, performing a medley from Let's Bottle Bohemia during the episode titled "The Ex-Factor".

Hiatus and Teenager

After releasing their second album, The Thrills took a prolonged hiatus to refine their musical direction. They wrote and recorded new songs in New York throughout 2006; however, many of these tracks were ultimately discarded for not aligning with their evolving standards.

In a 2007 interview, Deasy explained, "We aimed for a higher benchmark," noting that although around thirty songs were recorded, numerous promising tracks were rejected because they resembled previous material too closely.

Among the new compositions was "Midnight Choir," which served as both the opening track and lead single for their third album. Following advice from R.E.M., The Thrills relocated to Vancouver to record Teenager with producer Tony Hoffer, returning to work with him after their debut. The sessions took place in a refurbished morgue owned by Canadian musician Bryan Adams.

Teenager was released on 22 July 2007 in Ireland and on 25 July 2007 across Central Europe. Although it did not perform strongly on UK or Irish charts, it garnered generally favorable critiques, achieving a Metacritic rating of 71%. Reviews included positive remarks from BBC and NME (7/10), Pitchfork (6.9/10), while The Guardian offered a less favorable score of 2/5. A limited edition UK release featured a special CD/DVD package containing a documentary titled The Thrills: The End of Innocence.

Post-Teenager

Following the underwhelming commercial reception of their Teenager album, which reached only No. 48 on the UK charts, the band was released from their contract with EMI in 2008.

In an interview with the Irish Times in August 2010, Ben Carrigan revealed that the Thrills had entered an indefinite hiatus. Subsequently, Carrigan embarked on a solo path, launching his first solo album, The Greatest Narrators, on 23 September 2011, preceded by the lead single "You Knew It All Along" in August of that year.

During promotion for his solo material in September 2011, Carrigan explained that the group had been on hiatus since their Australian tour in 2008. He clarified that although they had not officially disbanded, members were concentrating on individual endeavors. In an October 2011 discussion with Hot Press, he referred to his time with the Thrills as a "past life," emphasizing his commitment to advancing his career independently.

On 22 August 2011, Virgin Records issued a greatest hits collection entitled 2002–2007, comprising selections from the band's initial three studio albums without any fresh tracks. This compilation was distributed exclusively through Amazon UK and made available digitally via Amazon US.

After the Thrills' hiatus, Kevin Horan joined Little Green Cars as a touring musician, while Daniel Ryan took on managerial duties for that band.

In popular culture

  • The band's association with the US west coast lifestyle was humorously parodied by Irish TV personality Dustin the Turkey in his 2005 track Stillorgan 90210, featured on the album Bling When You're Mingin'.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation of studio albums including selected chart rankings and certifications
Title Album information Highest chart positions Certifications
IRE BEL FRA ITA NED NOR SWE UK US US Heatseekers
So Much for the City
  • Release date: 27 May 2003
  • Record label: Virgin
 1 — 100 47 75 28 23 3 — 14
  • BPI: Platinum
Let's Bottle Bohemia
  • Release date: 13 September 2004
  • Record label: Virgin
 1 79 183 — 85 — — 9 152 6
  • IRMA: Platinum; BPI: Gold
Teenager
  • Release date: 22 July 2007
  • Record label: Virgin
 24 — — — — — — 48 — —
"—" indicates a release that did not chart or was unavailable in that region.

EPs

Year Title
2007 The Thrills Bite Size

Singles

Year Single title IRE ITA NED SCO UK US AAA Album association
2002 "Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)" — | — | — | 107 | — | rowspan=5|So Much for the City
2003 "One Horse Town" — | — | 27 | 18 | 4
"Big Sur" 44 | 55 | 12 | 17 | —
"Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)" (re-release) — | — | 32 | 33 | —
"Don't Steal Our Sun" — | — | 48 | 45 | —
2004 "Whatever Happened to Corey Haim?" — | — | 20 | 22 | — Let's Bottle Bohemia
"Not for All the Love in the World" — | — | 43 | 39 | 15
2005 "The Irish Keep Gate-crashing" — | — | 51 | 48 | —
2007 "Nothing Changes Around Here" — | — | 13 | 40 | — Teenager
"The Midnight Choir" — | — | — | — | —

Other contributions

External links

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