As much as I enjoy making fun of my music collection for being hopelessly stuck in the '80s (my standard line is "I stopped paying attention after the final Bangles album came out in '88"), regular readers know it's not completely true. A quick scroll through my
CD collection iPod reveals the likes of Goldfrapp, the New Pornographers, Bat for Lashes, Duffy, Florence and the Machine and Mgmt, to name a few. What's more, one of my greatest music love affairs is with the California-by-way-of-Dublin quintet The Thrills, whose sun-drenched late '60s-inspired music never fails to delight me. (Are there bands today writing better songs than "Hollywood Kids," "Whatever Happened to Corey Haim?," and "Restaurant"? If so, I haven't discovered many of them.) Of course, taking me on as Fan No. 1 might not have been the best thing for these Irish boys. Like all things in life, the second I fall in love with something -- whether it's a toothpaste, a soft drink, a cereal, a Pop-Tart flavor -- the manufacturer inexplicably discontinues it.
So no sooner did The Thrills make a huge splash with their 2003 debut, "So Much for the City," the inevitable sophomore slump hit on "Let's Bottle Bohemian." By the time they rebounded with "Teenager," in 2007,
disappointing sales led Virgin to completely drop them, amid complaints from hardcore fans that it was "too much of a departure." (Fittingly, I think it sounds very much in character and is my favorite album of theirs -- and what artist didn't have disappointing CD sales in
2007???). I'm crushed, because I never got around to seeing them live, which I heard was a treat. I sort of assumed they'd just get signed by another label, but I see their official site is now dead, leading to think I should have stuck with my dusty stack of Bangles CDs, where I know I won't ever be hurt or disappointed again.
The fact that their former label disabled the embedding code on ALL of their videos means I won't be sharing much here -- hey, jackasses: videos are FREE ADVERTISEMENTS for your artists' music; no wonder sales are down, you won't let people promote them. However, a fan posted the music to one of my faves, so you can get a taste from "Restaurant." Whether this is really the end remains to be seen. Heck, even the Bangles released another album ... 15 years later.
As much as I enjoy making fun of my music collection for being hopelessly stuck in the '80s (my standard line is "I stopped paying attention after the final Bangles album came out in '88"), regular readers know it's not completely true. A quick scroll through my 
So no sooner did The Thrills make a huge splash with their 2003 debut, "So Much for the City," the inevitable sophomore slump hit on "Let's Bottle Bohemian." By the time they rebounded with "Teenager," in 2007, disappointing sales led Virgin to completely drop them, amid complaints from hardcore fans that it was "too much of a departure." (Fittingly, I think it sounds very much in character and is my favorite album of theirs -- and what artist didn't have disappointing CD sales in 2007???). I'm crushed, because I never got around to seeing them live, which I heard was a treat. I sort of assumed they'd just get signed by another label, but I see their official site is now dead, leading to think I should have stuck with my dusty stack of Bangles CDs, where I know I won't ever be hurt or disappointed again.
The fact that their former label disabled the embedding code on ALL of their videos means I won't be sharing much here -- hey, jackasses: videos are FREE ADVERTISEMENTS for your artists' music; no wonder sales are down, you won't let people promote them. However, a fan posted the music to one of my faves, so you can get a taste from "Restaurant." Whether this is really the end remains to be seen. Heck, even the Bangles released another album ... 15 years later.
2 comments:
Took me forever to get "Teenager," but "The Midnight Choir" is an instant classic, an anthem worthy of U2.
LOVED them. Figures they got canned. All the good "lo-key" bands get fired, break-up or die...
Post a Comment