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The Thrills – Let’s Bottle Bohemia

The Thrills
Let’s Bottle Bohemia
Virgin

The Thrills are a group of Irishmen obsessed with (a) Gram Parsons and(b) the alienating glamour of old California, which means they makemusic for people trying to drink themselves to death. The Thrills’second album, Let’s Bottle Bohemia,doesn’t top its predecessor. Like many second albums, it’s basicallytwo good new songs packaged alongside some ideas left over from theprevious year. But there’s still something profoundly likeable aboutthis kind of music, and it has to do with the way the album feels (asopposed to the way it sounds). The pianos feel sad. The guitars feelexhausted. Everything’s loose, but hat premise may sound pedantic, andits profundity is mostly an extension of its simplicity. But this isthe kind of realization no one truly makes until they’re actually inside a limousine ,and I suspect that’s precisely where Deasy was when he wrote thelyrics. Any time a record makes you feel like you’re a different personin a different place, that record is probably pretty good.

Grade: B