No Frills Reviews

The Brighton band deliver a promising debut, reflecting on nostalgia and growing older, as told through the rose-tinted lens of their influences.

Ever get the feeling that time is passing you by? That those around you are hitting the next ‘adult’ milestones while you’re stuck a few steps back? Wasn’t it easier when we were all a bit younger?

On their debut album, Brighton’s Thrillhouse have these thoughts constantly running through their mind. It’s an album about getting older, but not quite growing up. About longing for a simpler past that’s just out of reach.

That could come off as slightly self-pitying, but the music never wallows in the relative gloom of the lyrical content. There remains a melancholic undertone throughout but, while maybe not outright upbeat, the music provides a contrast with a sense of forward momentum. A kind of Springsteen-style bombast washed over with the laid-back, hazy Americana of The War On Drugs. It sounds like an American road trip; or at least how I imagine, as someone who’s never been on an American road trip.

That contrast is encapsulated best on the opener, as the album’s first line is “I’ve never felt so alone”. Lead singer, Sam, reflects on everyone growing up around him while he ends up as “one of those guys that was in a band once”. Lyrically, it feels hopeless, yet musically it’s almost triumphant. It starts with a wake-up call of a riff, it’s fast-paced, catchy, and it’s got a big sing-along chorus. The music acts like a wink to the camera; an acknowledgment that he’s being a bit of a downer, but also kind of taking the piss.

Elsewhere, the Springsteen influence takes on a couple of different tones. There’s hints of Dancing In the Dark on The Taker, and the darker, moody folk style of Nebraska comes through on Hit Replay and What’s Changed. Butch Reilly combines a very old school rock & roll vibe with synth lines which somehow exude nostalgia. And towards the end, Guts introduces some of the album’s lightest and maybe even funky sounds. While there are these slight detours in the musical stylings, there’s a real sense of familiarity and cohesion throughout.

That sense of familiarity is also perhaps what holds the album back slightly, with it being a bit too indebted to its influences. They definitely pull it off well, but it just sounds very American, which can make it feel slightly inauthentic. However, that kind of fits perfectly for an album which reflects so heavily on nostalgia. The sound itself almost acts as the rose-tinted lens they speak of. The overt American-ness representing memories from a past that aren’t quite yours.

While the album returns to the same questions, there’s no great revelations or realisations. Rather than an attempt to impart any particular wisdom, it plays like a series of musings or daydreams. So, like my ramblings above, it allows you to attach your own meanings onto these fairly universal feelings. Whatever your own interpretations may be, Thrillhouse will have you singing along while you ponder it over.

Best tunes: So Far From Where I Started From, Something About This Place, What’s Changed?, Que Sera, Sera

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