IRELAND'S THRILLS PROVE TO BE SOMEWHAT LESS SO.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Critic 

The sign on the Troubadour box office said ``sold out,'' but nobody expected that to also describe the music being played inside on Friday.

The Thrills, a much-touted Dublin pop-rock quintet, were back for an industry-choked club date, and the place was as densely packed as Dan Tana's bar a few doors down. The difference was, at Dan Tana's the fare offers some real kicks.

The story of the Thrills begins (and undoubtedly ends) with an entertaining debut album released late last year containing a half-dozen refreshingly melodic songs some hail as reminiscent of Brian Wilson and Neil Young. Arriving on stage at the sweat-soaked West Hollywood club after a lengthy, unexplained delay, the band performed dispassionate readings of those songs before offering up more recent efforts.

Those newer songs, in the company of the 2003 album's ``Big Sur'' and ``Your Love Is Like Las Vegas,'' glinted like fool's gold, making inalterably clear that whatever was so appealing about the group's ``So Much for the City'' disc could be likened to a flash of lightning not to be repeated.

Watching singer Conor Deasy going through the motions, an act that included an attempt to get the audience to clap its hands in time with the radio-friendly ``Santa Cruz,'' you couldn't help recognize the media manipulation that worked so effectively to transport this group from Ireland to a headlining date in West Hollywood - and was quickly running out of steam.

Upstairs, where rows of seats were blocked off for record executives and their dates and TV talent bookers, the sense of lost momentum was almost visible.

The Thrills, it seemed, had become another emperor in need of a bathrobe.

Fred Shuster, [phone]

fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Conor Deasy fronts the Thrills, who hail from Ireland but sing a lot about California.

Ashley Knotek/WireImage.com