Let's Bottle Bohemia

by

The Thrills

Edit

Before I begin let me spread out my musical credentials for you so that you'll trust my opinion a wee bit. I'm a guy who believes that "Pet Sounds" and "Astral Weeks" are the greatest records ever, who believes "Kid A" is Radiohead's best work, and who thinks that The Killers "Hot Fuss", Interpol's "Antics", Animal Collective's "Tung Songs", and The Thrills "Let's Bottle Bohemia" are the best discs of 2004. But the reason I think nobody gets that is that they haven't really listened to this album. If they'd give this album the time they gave "OK Computer" or that they poured into "Dissentergration" then they'd understand this as the masterpiece that it is.

The first two cuts from the album build to beautiful solos. The first one being a distorted Beatles riff and the second being a beautiful string arrangement. "Faded Beauty Queen" begins with the great line of "How did you do it? Oh she said, "Smoke and Mirrors, Anything for love" and when the mandolin kicks in on the second verse it's at that point that you are instantly hooked. "Saturday Night" is so deceptively hooky that it's unfair and "Not for All the Love in the World" is the best song Paul McCartney never got the chance to write. They continue through the rest of the album telling there view of California life and life in general and that's where a big problem that people have with this album comes from. On "So Much For the City" they were a band discovering California (which really is just there metaphor for life) for the first time, wide eyed and only seeing the good in it. Where as this time they are seeing it for what it really is fantastic but flawed, and they are reveling in the fact. Cause as they say the sweet is never as sweet without the sour.

So if I may suggest to you all give this album another 5 or 6 listens, and listen to it as an album is supposed to be heard, from beginning to end with no interruptions or skipping. And after 42 minutes of swirling guitars, solo's done with every instrument imaginable, great harmonies, Conor's laid back vocals, beautiful strings, jumpy basslines, key changes, and one of the most beautiful hidden tracks I've ever heard you'll realize that this might be the closest to a perfect pop record we've heard since "The Soft Bulliten". I mean come on, there's a reason they opened for The Pixies.

Well, I loved the first album 'SO Much For The City' by The Thrills. It kind of reminded me of how The Beach Boys sounded in the 70's; lots of banjo and great hooky melodies.

I'm sorry, but the trend doesn't continue on this album. The songs are very forgettable, and have none of the 'California sound'.

I have seen the video for the song 'Not For All The Love In The World' and quite like the song, but the chorus doesn't go where I imgaine it should :)

Every time I hear it, I want the last bar to go to a certain chord, but it doesn't and disappoints me :S

So, for me, the whole thing suffers from 'second album syndrome'; it sounds like they used up all their good material on the 1st album.