TORONTO (CP) - It'd be easy to dismiss The Thrills for committing the crime du jour by so many rock bands. The dreaded "The" prefix has become over-used by budding young acts.


But this quintet of 23-year-olds from the south side of Dublin delivers a set of tunes worthy of notice. Recently crowned by Q magazine as best new act of 2003, they brought their sun stroked sound to Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern on the weekend, their first Canadian appearance. Lyrically, the songs are obsessed with dreaming of California sun and surf living - an understandable escape from damp Ireland. The album was penned during a four-month-long stay in a tiny beach house in San Diego. There's even an homage to the sunshine pop kings The Monkees in the song Big Sur.

The disc is a blend of West Coast pop rock and alt-folk flavour, thanks to a twangy banjo. But on stage the songs take on a more aggressive attitude.

Performing from their debut album So Much For The City, the band, which list Burt Bacharach, The Beach Boys and the film West Side Story as influences, plowed through a 45-minute no-nonsense set.

Highlights included One Horse Town, the story of a guy trying to leave his small town life and Big Sur, which was a hit in Europe this summer. The power pop Don't Steal Our Sun packed a punch with delicious harmonizing. An harmonica solo by lead singer Conor Deasy added a melancholic sense of longing for summer to the catchy Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far).

The members of the band, who mixed with fans around the bar after the show, seemed genuinely giddy to be bringing their sound to more far flung audiences following buzz band status in Europe last summer. They've been touring North America hoping crowds dig the Beach Boys-esque harmonies as much as the Europeans.

"This is our first time ever to Canada," shouted Deasy shortly after the start of the set. "It's nice to be out of America for a couple of days and see something else."

Despite the energetic set, the band - Deasy, Kevin Horan on keys, Padraic McMahon on bass, Daniel Ryan on guitar and Ben Carrigan on drums - took a moment to change the mood briefly when Deasy dedicated Old Friends, New Lovers to singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, who last week died in an apparent suicide.

"He was one of my favourite singer-songwriters," he mumbled.

The childhood friends, who formed the band in 1999, played their debut in London opening for Morrissey in September 2002 at the Royal Albert Hall, after a personal invitation from the famed singer. They've since been lauded by both Noel Gallagher of Oasis and Coldplay's Chris Martin.