The Thrill is Gone

Two of the all-time classic ways to stereotype Los Angeles are:

1. Band from (England/Ireland/somewhere else with dank weather) blow through town for a show or recording session, think they now know everything there is to know about LA and are compelled to write a song about it; and

2. Some variation on "Los Angeles is such a beautiful place... but darkness lies underneath." (Insert music: Bum bum buuuuuum!)

Enter Irish group the Thrills, with this track from their 2003 album (I know, we're catching up) So Much for the City, called "Hollywood Kids."

Well they're sure keen on dancin'

Those Hollywood kids, those Hollywood kids got it made.

When they act, big doors open.

Those Hollywood kids, those Hollywood kids got it made.

So let's party, Dustin Hoffman.

Those Hollywood kids, those Hollywood kids got it made.

Oh how the sun sets on my Boulevard

But leaves quite a shadow to fill

Oh how the sun sets on my Boulevard

But leaves such a shadow to fill

Oh the death of a fast life.

Those Hollywood stars, those Hollywood stars got to pay.

That's some will you've been drinkin.

Those Hollywood stars, those Hollywood stars got to pay.

Oh how the sun sets on my Boulevard

But leaves quite a shadow to fill

Oh how the sun sets on my Boulevard

But leaves such a shadow to fill

So look closer, do you still think that,

Those Hollywood kids, those Hollywood kids got it made

Take heed, Dustin Hoffman! If I see one more photo of you stumbling out of Hyde, your next production may not be able to insure you... bum bum buuuuum!

Perhaps the Thrills shouldn't have settled down, hanging around in a one horse town, but being sheltered is no excuse to perpetuate this kind of repetitive cliche. I know, they're obsessed with Southern California, but is the above based on their actual experience, or just what they've heard people tell them? Are we to believe that the Thrills genuinely thought "Hollywood kids got it made," but then got accepted into said kids' inner circle where they gradually, spontaneously, and with no preconceptions at all discovered that darkness lies underneath?

Of course not. So Much For the City is actually the result of a summer-long recording session spent down in San Diego -- close enough to hop up on Amtrak to catch a show or hit an occasional bar in LA, but with not nearly enough proximity to truly engage with this city and all it has to offer. Next time I have a layover in Ireland, I'll come back with a neat little ditty about some leprechauns drinking Guinness, and how their shamrock patch may not be all it's cracked up to be.

I can't really blame the Thrills, though, as what they really needed was a better tour guide out here. It would have cost just five bucks for all five Thrills to grab tacos from that truck by the Echo, and that would have been a real revelation.