The Thrills

The Thrills know it’s not where you're from, it's where you're at. They appear to have lost their hearts in West Coast America rather than their native Dublin, and could scarcely appear more Yankophile if they arrived tonight wearing 'I Love NYC' t-shirts and 'Don’t Mess With Texas' baseball caps.

The band come on stage, all scruffy hair and thrift-store t-shirts, and singer Conor Deasy hunches over his microphone stand. Within the opening seconds of ‘Your Love Is Like Las Vegas’ it is apparent that this band should be playing anywhere but the Barfly. The musicians that they so clearly love - * The Beach Boys, *Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and The Band *– would not be at home playing this packed Camden dive, and neither, it seems, are The Thrills. Like several songs tonight, _’Deckchairs And Cigarettes’_ is an ode to America (in this case San Diego) and is decorated with authentic oh-lonesome-me slide guitar and piano. In sharp contrast is new single _‘One Horse Town’_, a soul-boy stomp that *Dexy's would be proud of and, I like to kid myself, written about the lack of equestrian parking facilities in Dublin city centre.

The danger, of course, with such tasteful classic rock influences is joining the real ale school-of-rock – and the reported patronage of Noel Gallagher rarely signals a band looking anywhere but the past. However, unlike previous Gallagher acolytes, The Thrills appear to understand that there is nothing wrong with borrowing from a vintage record collection - provided that you do something interesting with it. They finish with debut single ‘Santa Cruz (It’s Not that Far)’, four minutes of sun-baked harmonies, crashing country-rock guitar and Hammond organ. It is The Thrills’ greatest moment this evening by some distance, and one of the most memorable debut singles of recent months.

I expected to dislike them for the borrowed American accents and transparent influences, but after a brief half hour-or-so set, I’m convinced - there is more to this band than an ambitious record collection and celebrity patronage. Much more.