It's a rock cliché to talk about difficult second albums, but it doesn't hold much water. Recent music history is littered with second albums which saw a band make the leap from intriguing to great, records like The Smiths' "Meat Is Murder", Radiohead's "The Bends" or Smashing Pumpkins' "Siamese Dream". The Thrills' "Let's Bottle Bohemia" - released just one year after their debut - will not be joining that list.
The Irish five-piece (who should more accurately be called The Vaguely Pleasants) were a charming side dish to 2003's musical feast, when their slight, summery songs were all but inescapable to anyone who owned a radio. Indeed, in "Big Sur" they had something special, an irresistible, playful kitten of a song, and a self-titled album that was easy on the ear and undemanding on the mind. Unfortunately "Let's Bottle Bohemia" - far more than The Vines' unfairly maligned "Winning Days" - reveals a band stuck in a narrow rut of their own making.
It all starts off promisingly, with two of their sunniest tunes to date, "Tell Me Something I Don't Know" and first single "Whatever Happened To Corey Haim?". Both make a little go a long way, with Conor Deasy's odd, strangled whine employed on breezy melodies, while some clever rhythm arrangements keep the pace up.
But by third song, "Faded Beauty Queens", the recipe is already stalling, and the harmonies begin to sound flimsy. Deasy has certainly matured lyrically, with the vague whimsies of the debut swapped for scathing couplets like "The greatest ghost writer couldn't help you/ Write a draft of your life", but his songwriting seems resolutely stuck. The album's worst moments, like "Not For All The Love In The World", have all the focus and melody of a postman's idle hum.
There are a couple of intriguingly dark moments, with "You Can't Fool Old Friends With Limousines" and "I Found My Rosebud" dwelling on the gulfs that open up in friendships through geography and fame. But the band don't have the imagination to forge music textured or subtle enough to reflect the themes.
Next time it would be nice to be surprised a little, boys.
