Teenager
by The Thrills

Album details

US: IMPORT ONLY
UK: 23 July 2007 on Virgin

Tony Hoffer produced this third album for the Irish band. Unlike the previous two albums (both set to tape in California), Teenager was recorded in Vancouver, Canada.

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The critical consensus

Allthough the Thrills’ 2003 debut was well-received, their 2004 follow-up "Let’s Bottle Bohemia" garnered only mixed reviews and did not sell as well. So what of album #3? The BBC finds the Dublin band’s third album "surprisingly strong," adding that it is "well-conceived, well-written, and generally well-rounded." Just don’t go adding "well-reviewed" to that list, as only a few critics share the Beeb’s positive view.

Count Mojo as one. The magazine throws around REM comparisons in a positive review, concluding that a rejuvenated Thrills "have finally found their place in the world." Drowned In Sound finds it "consistently rewarding" and "refreshingly out of time" (though lacking "bite"). While Hotpress also enjoys the disc, they indicate that "a change of musical direction might be advisable for album number four." Speaking of being stuck in a rut, Q warns that "Teenager proves them to be one-trick ponies, with the same formula enthusiastically executed but lacking any memorable tunes." Quite similarly, a disapproving Independent determines that "they’re labouring to sustain an increasingly threadbare formula, with an inevitable decline in songwriting standards." Dotmusic deems Teenager "hit-and-miss," noting that "others (Morrissey, Ben Kweller and The Long Blondes, to name but three) have done the rosy-tinted, when-we-were-young thing far more movingly." And it’s hard to find an aspect of the album that the Guardian doesn’t criticise, whether it is the "bland" songs, the "tinny" guitars, the "cheesy" lyrics… well, we could go on.

Texturally, Teenager is as flat as the Mojave Desert, and, like a fusty pastel sweater bought as a birthday present, it’s cosy yet bland.

- Alex Denney, Observer Music Monthly

Review roundup

Tracklisting and media

1. Midnight Choir
2. This Year
3. Nothing Changes Around Here
   
   
4. Restaurant
5. I Came All This Way
6. Long Forgotten Song
7. I’m So Sorry
8. No More Empty Words
9. Teenager
   
10. Should’ve Known Better
11. There’s Joy To Be Found/The Boy Who Caught All The Breaks

Also on the web

• Official Artist Site
• The Thrills @ MySpace