Thirst are a young British quartet (members all aged between 19 and 22) who have recently supported the likes of Tailgunner and Therapy?. "Beautiful Bruise" is their third single, and despite initially sounding like yet another of the glut of Manics copyists extended acquaintance proves it to be a work of power, sweetness and delicacy. If anything the other tracks are even better, if less radio-friendly, especially the brilliant tale of mid-20s ennui "Canteen Supreme" (when bands as young as Thirst start getting nostalgic about their school years it makes me feel ancient…) They have an album imminent called "From Mouth To Skin" - if they avoid the potentially great, eventually lame band curse (whatever happened to Glitterbox?) it could be a small, good thing.
THIRST From Mouth To Skin (Zip)Following their rather good "Beautiful Bruise" single and its even more interesting and experimental b-sides the debut album from young British quartet Thirst was a hotly anticipated item around here. Unfortunately, instead of playing up the naked emotion and dewy-eyed nostalgia of those b-sides "From Mouth To Skin" concentrates solely on the production of a third-rate old-school Manics-style racket, sheets of guitars lashed protectively onto melodies that aren't strong enough to stand up on their own. We've been this way before (Glitterbox, another potentially great eventually lame bunch of Manics copyists, spring painfully to mind) and I fear we'll be here again. If you fancy an hour-thick slab of undistinguished, angry, angsty rock Thirst will do as well as any of the too-many alternatives, but really, isn't life too short to be spending it listening to music like this?
THIRST Collapse (Zip)More angsty stuff from this young Portsmouth quartet in the form of another single taken from their debut long player "From Mouth To Skin". It's an acceptable calling card, being all Manics rage and Nirvana guitar, and it's over before the accumulated deadening effect that marred their album can take root in the listener's mind. The two additional tracks include a cover of fellow Portsmouth residents Red Letter Day's "Rain".