|
|
Welcome once again to the "go on then, justify the hype" corner of Live Reviews. If you believe the press and, erm, Noel Gallagher, Dublin's Thrills are one of the better new bands to come along this year, mixing West Coast psychedelia with '90s Britpop. Great things, then, were to be expected here.
So why is it that at eleven o'clock when I trudge out of the Rocket and on me way home do I feel slightly underwhelmed by it all? Probably because there's just something missing with the Thrills. The sort of spark that turns a good band into an absolutely compelling one, that makes fans trek to the ends of the earth to see 'em live.
There isn't anything particularly wrong with the Thrills per se and in "One Horse Town" and "Big Sur" they've got two likeable enough singles but it's just that onstage they're hardly an engaging spectacle. It doesn't help that the venue is hotter than a Madrid sauna tonight and therefore decidedly less than comfortable but the Thrills just don't excite the way that other similar bands like the Cooper Temple Clause and the Rain Band do. Their stage presence is surprisingly small (Oasis-style heads down, no-nonsense, concentrate on them riffs stuff to all intents and purposes) and, as the set wears on, their limitations become painfully obvious. Not least of which is the unoriginality of their material - sure, by all means nab the odd influence from '60s West Coast but at least make sure you add something to the mix otherwise you're just gonna sound dull.
It's not a total disaster but it is a disappointment. Next big thing? Sorry folks, move on, there's nothing to see here...
Reviewed by Andy James
