So Much for the City

So Much for the City
Studio album by The Thrills
Released	May 27, 2003
Recorded	October 2002 – March 2003
Genre	Indie rock
Length	46:24
Label	Virgin
Producer	Tony Hoffer
The Thrills chronology
So Much for the City (2003) Let's Bottle Bohemia (2004)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
BBC	(Positive)[2]
Pitchfork Media	(6.9/10)[3]
Robert Christgau	C[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]

So Much for the City is the debut album of the Irish indie/pop band The Thrills. It was released in May 2003 and quickly became the number one in the Republic of Ireland where it spent 61 weeks in the top 75,^[6] and also won 'Album of the Year' at the national music awards. It was also very successful in UK, debuting at #3, remaining in the charts for 25 weeks,^[7] and gave them some attention in Europe, with the single "Big Sur" reaching #17 in the UK,^[7] which remains as their highest charted position in that 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.[8]

”

The album was nominated for the 2003 Mercury Prize but lost to Dizzee Rascal's Boy in da Corner.^[9]

Track listing

1. "Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)" – 4:13
2. "Big Sur" – 3:07
3. "Don't Steal Our Sun" – 2:50
4. "Deckchairs and Cigarettes" – 4:58
5. "One Horse Town" – 3:15
6. "Old Friends, New Lovers" (feat. string arrangements by David Campbell) – 4:01
7. "Say It Ain't So" – 2:44
8. "Hollywood Kids" – 5:33
9. "Just Travelling Through" – 3:21
10. "Your Love Is Like Las Vegas" – 2:23
11. "'Til the Tide Creeps In" / "Plans" (hidden track) – 10:06

Singles

• "Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)" (November 11, 2002)
• "One Horse Town" (March 10, 2003)
• "Big Sur" (June 9, 2003)
• "Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)" (re-issue) (August 25, 2003)
• "Don't Steal Our Sun" (November 24, 2003)

References

1. Allmusic review
2. BBC review
3. Pitchfork Media review
4. "CG: the thrills". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2012-03-25.
5. Rolling Stone review
6. The Thrills - So Much For The City - Music Charts
7. "The Thrills". Chart Stats. Archived from the original on 2012-07-29. Retrieved 2012-03-25.
8. "Interview: Conor Deasy of The Thrills". Livedaily.com. 2004-05-19. Retrieved 2012-03-25.
9. "Rocklist.net...Mercury/Nationwide Music Prize Nominations And Winners". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-03-25.