The Thrills

The Thrills are a curious bunch. Naff, repetitive, whimsical pop one minute with ‘Santa Cruz’, jingly jangly Supernaturals styled Britpop the next. But for the people here tonight to see the band on their second sellout London date on the tour, it appears to be just what the doctor ordered.

Naturally it’s ‘Big Sur’ and ‘One Horse Town’ which evoke the pogo action. So far, so twee. DiS sits with a furrowed brow, clutching a can of weak £3+ piss. Sure, these are fun tunes, played with far more bravado and bluster than they are on record, but these aren’t the ones people will be listening to 10 years down the line.

It seems, though, The Thrills are going to be here for a long while yet. Newer material and the slower songs show far more promise than “hey hey you’re the monkeys/Monkees” and the plethora schmindie cheese which has no doubt been the catalyst for the album selling by the truckload and the gigs selling out. They aren’t single material thought – no, far too moody for that, won’t find that on the Radio 1 playlist, so the full picture for The Thrills is unbeknown to most. Shame.

The fans slightly go off the boil during the lighter moments, only to cheer when the harmonica is dragged out for the nth time. Two of the band members throw themselves into the crowd only to be pulled out seconds later. Wusses. It looks desperate rather than rock ‘n’ roll. But that’s the thing with The Thrills; they will never be cool, and they don’t need to be. They will gig from here to eternity, Levellers style. Make of that what you will…