Bleak Thrills
Every once in a while a band emerges, fully formed, to fulfill a potential no-one even realized they had. A band who are spookily, synchronously of the moment, but who also transcend it, managing to do so with an uncanny pop universalism. A band whose tunes make grown men go weak at the knees, and yes, whose looks make young girls' knees tremble too. This year, this time, this band is The Thrills.
And now, it would seem, is a good time to be a Thrill. In the hazy sunshine of their videos, surrounded by bikini-clad Californian girls, they certainly seem to emit the spirit of the bon vivant, but then in such a climate that probably wouldn't be too great a challenge.
Now, seated backstage in the slightly grubby Hexagon theatre in Reading - on the eve of the first date of their UK tour - this Dublin quintet of 20-somethings with a passion for West Coast living exude the impression of wide-eyed and bushy-tailed enthusiasm. Singer Conor Deasy is darting around, frantically smoking cigarettes and trying to locate bassist Padraic McMahon who seems to have disappeared deep into Reading's shopping malls. Meanwhile, guitarist Daniel Ryan (unofficial band spokesperson) and Kevin Horan, the group's keyboard player, are trying hard to relax before tonight's big performance. Only drummer Ben Carringon appears calm, his six-foot frame elegantly balanced on a small plastic chair that seems set to buckle at any second, and which I eye nervously throughout the interview.
"It's great to be back on the road," he murmurs enthusiastically as Deasy paces the hallway outside. "We've been in America for so long now, trying to make a name for ourselves, that in some ways it's great to come back and not have to start all over again. People know who we are and know our music - that's enough just in itself."
The Thrills have, of course, become poster boys for an industry keen to emphasis the 'stuff of dreams' element of rock stardom. The story peddled is a common one: talented bunch of scruffy-haired youngsters go off to America, discover the Beach Boys and Burt Bacharach, become inspired - and promptly storm the British charts with their unique blend of 1960s-inspired pop. Yet the band is keen to emphasise the four depressing years of trying to market their wares to hostile PR music labels prior to this trip across the Atlantic. "It definitely went as down as it could go before it went up," Ben remarks gloomily. "Soon after getting the demos together we signed a deal with an Irish independent label, and for a while it looked quite promising. But then after a year they dropped us - they had a very different vision for the band than what we expected. We had no money, no equipment and no studio time. Looking back, I can't believe we didn't give up there and then."
Instead, after returning from a holiday in America, the band were spotted by Morrissey, who promptly asked them to open for him on his Mexican and US tour. Yet still without a contract, and being hounded by their parents to get 'proper jobs', The Thrills had to decline the offer due to a lack of funds. A Mercury Music Prize nomination and Q Award for Best Band later, and having commandeered the approval of everyone from Bono to Noel Gallagher, the group finally did open for the former Smiths singer at his Albert Hall gigs, to rave reviews. Support slots for Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and The Pixies soon followed.
"Yeah, we've been pretty lucky," admits Ben, grinning nonchalantly. "Particularly as they're all bands that we're huge fans of. Especially the Rolling Stones; usually you can't get within half a mile of them." So what was it like getting to know their heroes then? Were they disappointed in any way? "Actually, we only met them before they were about to go on stage - they walked past us, we had a photograph taken and that was about it. The picture didn't even come out properly," says Ben smiling ruefully.
"To be honest, it's surprising when acts that big do manage to catch up with you. These people are so huge they can't even walk down the street without being mobbed - they tend to stay in their dressing rooms, perform and then leave. It's something you get used to."
The band, however, developed a slightly more personal relationship with Morrissey. "He's great - really nice, and very funny and not at all what people make him out to be. And he's kept in touch. He doesn't answer his phone all the time, but someone gave me his fax number the other day, because he prefers to communicate by fax. He said that he'd love to get a fax from us so I'm definitely going to send him one soon."
Having already conquered Britain, in the past year the band have taken to the tour bus with sights fixed firmly upon America. It's a territory that has defeated considerably more established acts, from Oasis to the Manic Street Preachers - yet in The Thrills' case, the gamble does appear to have paid off. Certainly the group's love of America - and more specifically the West Coast - has not done them any harm in the current cultural climate of fierce patriotism; Americans, it would seem, are more used to being plagued by letters from English Guardian readers denouncing their choice of president, than a bunch of foppish 24 year-olds praising California's rich musical heritage. Early in the year they landed prestigious slots on prime-time chat shows, including David Letterman, and new single 'What Happened to Cory Haim?' has become a firm fixture on many of the leading radio stations.
Yet, as with all apparent 'fairy tales', there lurks a darker side. More troubling to the minds of critics and discerning general public alike is the possibility that The Thrills, well, just aren't all that thrilling. Clean-living and white wine-drinking, they have always been a slightly odd bunch - naff, whimsical jangles one minute, Supernaturals-styled pop the next - and by the release of their third single, they seemed ready to take Travis' place as the mild men who picked up their guitars just as the public discovered an appetite for tuneful understatement.
Indeed, last year NME even tried one last, desperate attempt to win them some rock'n'roll credentials by dragging the band to Amsterdam and equipping them with drugs and pole dancers - but even that effort seemed lack-lustre and slightly embarrassing when pictured next to the ongoing saga that characterises the Libertines' tour bus.
Imagine the surprise, then, when their new album Let's Bottle Bohemia confounded everyone's expectations by going dark and edgy on us. Was it a conscious effort on the band's part?
"Absolutely. I think all of us were sick of the 'happy band plays happy songs inspired by trip to America' line. The sound is definitely a bit grittier; we wanted to push it out a little bit more. With the first record for any band you're always going to go in and have an idea of what you want, but there is an element of feeling around in the dark.
"When I listen to the first record I love it, although it's a little bit timid in some ways; it sounds to me like a band who are still finding a level with each other or whatever. But I think with the second one we'd played the songs live and road-tested them a bit with audiences to judge reactions. And just listening back to live recordings, and juggling things around a little bit, I think we certainly had an idea of where we were going."
What do they say to those critics who deem them a mere second-rate Beach Boys impersonation? Carringon and Deasy remain very aware of the dangers of being seen to be heavily influenced by the big stars of the 1960s and 1970s. "I think you always have to be quite careful - there's definitely a fine line between being inspired by a band and becoming a parody of it," admits Ben meditatively. "It's very easy to have people telling you you sound like someone, and you buying into that and the sound changing without you realising. I mean, we love The Velvet Underground and The Carpenters but we sound nothing like them: yet they still inspire us. Anyway, all of the band have such different tastes that you are never going to get a cut-and-run sound - we all bring something different to the table."
So do they deserve to exist while the Beach Boys are still around? Ben smiles. "That's for us to know and you to decide."
18th Nov 2004