Plenty of Thrills - no frills

With just months to go to the release of their all-important third album, The Thrills recently attended the premiere of a documentary that followed them for the past four years.

The film, subtitled The End Of Innocence, captures the highs of first album So Much For The City, when it seemed the band could do no wrong. But it doesn’t shy away from revealing how the band felt about the disappointing critical and commercial response to second album Let’s Bottle Bohemia. The movie ends on an ambiguous note as the band struggle to complete their new album in the US.
Speaking to hotpress before the movie, frontman Conor Deasy admitted the plan was for the album to be out already.
“We were almost done on it by Christmas. But we lived with it, and we thought it needs one or two more songs, so we’re just putting the finishing touches to it, and it’ll be out early summer,” he says.
“I think the new album is definitely a progression for the band, but in a very organic way. Which is why it’s taken so long,” he adds. “We never sat down and had that meeting where we articulated what we were going to do.
“So we spent about a year writing songs that in hindsight weren’t what we were looking for. I really think it’ll be our best record, it feels fresh and different for us. It’s the sound of a band that’s come out of its own skin, and none of the songs could have fit easily onto our previous albums.”
Filmmakers Danny O’Connor and Karen Craig approached The Thrills as industry buzz about them was first growing, before they had even put their John Hancocks on a record contract.
“It was a very exciting time,” says Conor. “Danny and Karen introduced themselves and at first they were these two English strangers, but they quickly became good friends. So it was never an ordeal to have the cameras there.”
“I know there are moments in the film that I’m going to cringe when I see. There’s some stuff that we say that I couldn’t imagine any of us saying now. It’s a bit wide-eyed and bushy-tailed.”
The lowest point in the film comes when the band learn of the disappointing chart position of Bohemia. Even off the back of hit single ‘Whatever Happened To Corey Haim?’, the album only hit No. 8 in the UK. Which doesn’t sound bad, but The Thrills’ despondent reaction, captured on tape of course, says it all.
Elsewhere there are the laughs you might expect from the story of five Dublin lads who end up recording in LA, packing out The Point and being introduced onto the Live 8 stage by Bob Geldof. (Or ‘Bev’ as Conor inexplicably calls him in front of a full house at Murrayfield Stadium.)
“The whole point from the start was that it couldn’t be a vanity project,” says Conor. “It’s a bit audacious for a band with only two albums to do a film.” But then The Thrills have never been a band to follow the rules, have they?
The End Of Innocence will be released on DVD later this year