So Much for the City

So Much for the City
So Much for the City
Studio album by The Thrills
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

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
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]

Legacy

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]

Track listing

"Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)" – 4:13
"Big Sur" – 3:07
"Don't Steal Our Sun" – 2:50
"Deckchairs and Cigarettes" – 4:58
"One Horse Town" – 3:15
"Old Friends, New Lovers" – 4:01
"Say It Ain't So" – 2:44
"Hollywood Kids" – 5:33
"Just Travelling Through" – 3:21
"Your Love Is Like Las Vegas" – 2:23
"'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)

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2003)	Peak position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[19]	75
French Albums (SNEP)^[20]	100
Irish Albums (IRMA)^[21]	1
Italian Albums (FIMI)^[22]	53
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[23]	28
Scottish Albums (OCC)^[24]	2
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[25]	23
UK Albums (OCC)^[26]	3

Year-end charts

Chart (2003)	Position
UK Albums (OCC)^[27]	46

References

^ "Reviews for So Much For The City by The Thrills". Metacritic. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
^ Lhote, Morgane. "So Much for the City – The Thrills". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
^ Brunner, Rob (15 August 2003). "Rating the contenders for Britain's top music prize". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
^ Peschek, David (27 June 2003). "The Thrills: So Much for the City". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
^ "Album: The Thrills". The Independent. 27 June 2003. Archived from the original on 30 June 2003. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
^ Hilburn, Robert (26 October 2003). "When Irish eyes are California dreamin'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
^ Petrusich, Amanda (21 July 2003). "The Thrills: So Much for the City". Pitchfork. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
^ "The Thrills: So Much for the City". Q (204): 112. July 2003.
^ Hoard, Christian (27 November 2003). "The Thrills: So Much For The City". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
^ Wood, Mikael (December 2003). "The Thrills: So Much for the City". Spin. 19 (12): 131–33. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
^ Christgau, Robert (25 May 2004). "Consumer Guide: Anti-Gravitational Boots". The Village Voice. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
^ The Thrills – So Much For The City – Music Charts
^ ^a ^b "The Thrills". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ "Interview: Conor Deasy of The Thrills". Livedaily.com. 19 May 2004. Archived from the original on 25 October 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ "Rocklist.net...Mercury/Nationwide Music Prize Nominations And Winners". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
^ "Rocklist.net... Q - 1001 Best Ever Songs". Q Magazine.
^ Bumiller, Elisabeth (11 April 2005). "White House Letter:President Bush's iPod". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
^ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Thrills – So Much for the City" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
^ "Lescharts.com – The Thrills – So Much for the City". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography The Thrills". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
^ "Italiancharts.com – The Thrills – So Much for the City". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
^ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Thrills – So Much for the City". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
^ "Swedishcharts.com – The Thrills – So Much for the City". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
^ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2003". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 December 2021.

[1] "Reviews for So Much For The City by The Thrills". Metacritic. Retrieved 14 June 2016.

[2] Lhote, Morgane. "So Much for the City – The Thrills". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 June 2016.

[3] Brunner, Rob (15 August 2003). "Rating the contenders for Britain's top music prize". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 14 June 2016.

[4] Peschek, David (27 June 2003). "The Thrills: So Much for the City". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2016.

[5] "Album: The Thrills". The Independent. 27 June 2003. Archived from the original on 30 June 2003. Retrieved 14 June 2016.

[6] Hilburn, Robert (26 October 2003). "When Irish eyes are California dreamin'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 June 2016.

[7] Petrusich, Amanda (21 July 2003). "The Thrills: So Much for the City". Pitchfork. Retrieved 14 June 2016.

[8] "The Thrills: So Much for the City". Q (204): 112. July 2003.

[9] Hoard, Christian (27 November 2003). "The Thrills: So Much For The City". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2016.

[10] Wood, Mikael (December 2003). "The Thrills: So Much for the City". Spin. 19 (12): 131–33. Retrieved 14 June 2016.

[11] Christgau, Robert (25 May 2004). "Consumer Guide: Anti-Gravitational Boots". The Village Voice. Retrieved 14 June 2016.

[12] The Thrills – So Much For The City – Music Charts

[officialcharts.com-13] "The Thrills". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 March 2012.

[14] "Interview: Conor Deasy of The Thrills". Livedaily.com. 19 May 2004. Archived from the original on 25 October 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2012.

[15] "Rocklist.net...Mercury/Nationwide Music Prize Nominations And Winners". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2012.

[16] Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.

[17] "Rocklist.net... Q - 1001 Best Ever Songs". Q Magazine.

[18] Bumiller, Elisabeth (11 April 2005). "White House Letter:President Bush's iPod". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 July 2019.

[ac_Netherlands_The_Thrills-19] "Dutchcharts.nl – The Thrills – So Much for the City" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 December 2021.

[ac_France_The_Thrills-20] "Lescharts.com – The Thrills – So Much for the City". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 December 2021.

[ac_Ireland2_The_Thrills-21] "Irish-charts.com – Discography The Thrills". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 December 2021.

[ac_Italy_The_Thrills-22] "Italiancharts.com – The Thrills – So Much for the City". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 December 2021.

[ac_Norway_The_Thrills-23] "Norwegiancharts.com – The Thrills – So Much for the City". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 December 2021.

[ac_Scotland_-24] "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 December 2021.

[ac_Sweden_The_Thrills-25] "Swedishcharts.com – The Thrills – So Much for the City". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 December 2021.

[ac_UK2_-26] "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 December 2021.

[27] "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2003". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 December 2021.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]