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Imitation Isn't Always The Best Form Of Flattery
The Thrills, So Much For The City
The Shins, Chutes to Narrow

Reviewed by William Miller

Here we have new releases from two up and coming bands who draw from the same vein of classic pop. The Thrills invoke Neil Young, Brian Wilson, the Byrds and early seventies country rock in weaving their tribute to the California Dream. Brian Wilson also figures into the lo-fi hooks of the Shins (along with the Beatles and the Who). But where the Thrills go for approximation of their heroes, the Shins use them as a touchstone and proceed to take off on a course all their own.

So Much For the City reproduces the jingle jangle of The Thrills' influences so blatantly, the copyright warning on the back of their cd is somewhat of a joke. You'll swear you're hearing outtakes from Harvest and Holland. You also better be a proud member of the state of California, because beach imagery and sun drenched cities like Santa Cruz and San Diego are name checked at every turn. Luckily, these Ireland boyos (yes, you read that right) have a knack for melody, and tunes like "One Horse Town" and the epic "Til the Tide Creeps In" will make you thankful for the repeat function on your cd player. Despite a consistently listenable record, the Thrills seem poised to be beset by the same problem that befell Oasis- how much of someone sounding like someone else can a listener take before they just play the original. A hidden track at the end of the album surmises that "everybody better have plans." The Thrills' plans should include not wearing their influences so much on their second-hand, albeit pleasant-sounding, sleeves.

For those of you who were blown away by the Shins' debut release Oh, Inverted World will find similar pleasures in this second offering from New Mexico's favorite sons. Unlike the Thrills, the Shins aren't too worried about reproducing someone else's past glories. Yes, they have obviously been taking lessons at the school of classic pop , but they absorb what is useful and fuse them with their own DIY aesthetic. What you get are pop songs with a decidedly offbeat sensibility. They sound like... well that's it, you can't really pigeonhole them. At times you might go "Weezer", but the lyrics are more introspective than Rivers Cuomo likes to get. My tongue seems on the verge of saying "reminiscent of early 80s postpunk," but then it decides against it. In this respect, the Shins are being derivative of Nirvana, a band once signed to the Shins' label Sub Pop. Kurt Cobain always swore his allegiance to the kind of power pop favored by the Beatles and Cheap Trick, but he took his love of a catchy tune and served it up in a style all his own. The Shins do the exact same thing, and that's why they're a step above the countless other "The (Insert Group name here)" bands that dot the current musical landscape.

Rating:	The Thrills (2 1/2 out of 4 stars)
	The Shins (3 out of 4 stars)