The Thrills

Tonight is something of a triumphant return for The Thrills. Having cut their live teeth on the prestigious Brats tour alongside scene dahlings The Datsuns and The Polyphonic Spree, the Dublin quintet gushingly declare that this is their very first sold out headline gig on home turf. But we already knew that – in fact, tonight is so sold out, hotpress is having trouble even getting in the door.

The Thrills have been the subject of a whirlwind romance with the record industry and, subsequently, a dirty weekend with the music press – mooted as the latest greatest thing to sound like it came out of sixties America. Hype and West Coast production aside, the time for The Thrills to show their home town exactly what they’re made of is nigh.

Despite a somewhat understated stage presence, they quickly find their feet with slice after slice of infinitely catchy pop, complete with five part harmonies, lazy, moseying rhythms and shimmering, sunny melodics. ‘Santa Cruz’ chugs along jauntily, and the sublime ‘Your Love Is Like Las Vegas’ shows off Conor Deasy’s endearing nasal twang, making us wonder how the fuck a band that grew up in drizzly wet old Ireland ever got to sound quite so deliriously bright.

On a down note, their inability to raise the tempo past ‘trundle’ and their tendency to over-rely on harmony does show they’ve still got a way to go.

So the conclusion: suitably impressed, but with socks decidedly un-knocked off.