So Much for the City | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 27 May 2003 | |||
Recorded | October 2002 – March 2003 | |||
Genre | Indie rock, post-punk revival | |||
Length | 46:24 | |||
Label | Virgin | |||
Producer | Tony Hoffer | |||
The Thrills chronology | ||||
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Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 72/100 [1] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Entertainment Weekly | B+ [3] |
The Guardian | [4] |
The Independent | [5] |
Los Angeles Times | [6] |
Pitchfork | 6.9/10 [7] |
Q | [8] |
Rolling Stone | [9] |
Spin | B+ [10] |
The Village Voice | C [11] |
So Much for the City is the debut album of the Irish indie/ pop band The Thrills. It was released on 27 May 2003 and quickly achieved success in Ireland, spending 61 weeks in the top 75 of the Irish Albums Chart. [12] The album also won 'Album of the Year' at the national music awards. It gained significant popularity in the UK, debuting at #3 and remaining in the charts for 25 weeks. [13] The single " Big Sur" reached #17 in the UK, [13] which remains their highest charted position in the country to date.
In an interview, lead singer Conor Deasy explained the band's inspiration for the song material:
Those songs are our ways of picking us up because we were kind of miserable. We were dropped by our label. And the towns are put [in the songs] as a way of escapism, as opposed to documenting little tales about what happened when we went there. When we put in a title like "Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)," it would literally pick us up a bit. [14]
The album was nominated for the 2003 Mercury Prize but lost to Dizzee Rascal's Boy in da Corner. [15]
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. [16]
The song " Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)" was ranked by Q Magazine at number 550 on their list of the 1001 best songs ever made. [17]
The song "Say It Ain't So" appeared on US President George W. Bush's iPod in 2005. [18]
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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