Thrills, Kills & Sunday Pills

Thrills, Kills + Sunday Pills is the fourth studio album by Australian alternative rock band, Grinspoon. It was released on 20 September 2004 by record label, Universal Music, with Howard Benson producing. On the ARIA Albums Chart it peaked at No. 4; ARIA certified the album as platinum for shipment of 70,000 units.

Thrills, Kills + Sunday Pills
Studio album by Grinspoon
Released	20 September 2004
Recorded	November 2003−June 2004
Venue	Los Angeles, California
Genre	Post-grunge, alternative rock
Length	46:45
Label	Universal
Producer	Howard Benson
Grinspoon chronology
Panic Attack (2003) Thrills, Kills + Sunday Pills (2004) Best in Show (2005)
Singles from Thrills, Kills + Sunday Pills
"Hard Act to Follow" Released: 9 August 2004 "Better Off Alone" Released: 4 November 2004 "Hold on Me" Released: 21 February 2005 "Bleed You Dry" Released: 13 June 2005

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2005 it won Best Rock Album.

Four singles were issued: "Hard Act to Follow" (August 2004), "Better Off Alone" (November), "Hold on Me" (February 2005) and "Bleed You Dry" (June).

Background

Grinspoon's fourth studio album, Thrills, Kills + Sunday Pills, marked another change in their musical direction – their third album, New Detention (June 2002), had been more commercial than their earlier work.[1] The band's founding mainstays are Pat Davern on guitar, Joe Hansen on bass guitar, Kristian Hopes on drums and Phil Jamieson on lead vocals and guitar.[1][2] They recorded the new album in Los Angeles with Howard Benson (Motorhead, Sepultura) producing.[1]

Ed Nimmervoll of HowlSpace remarked that for the recording they had "deliberately put aside any song that sounded typical Grinspoon, Benson encouraged the band to keep things simple and concentrate on the songs in their own right. The result was the 'Poppy-est" album of [their] career. They knew that some of their hardcore fans would initially find the album difficult to accept."[1]

Thrills, Kills + Sunday Pills was released on 20 September 2004 by record label Universal. Four singles were released from the album: "Hard Act to Follow" (August 2004), "Better Off Alone" (November), "Hold on Me" (February 2005) and Bleed You Dry (June). Grinspoon had started their tour in support of "Hard Act to Follow" on 26 August 2004 and continued to 4 September.[3]

Reception

Thrills, Kills + Sunday Pills peaked at No. 4 on the ARIA Albums Chart,[4] and by December was certified platinum for shipment of 70,000 copies.[5] The lead single, "Hard Act to Follow", reached No. 24 on the related ARIA Singles Chart, with "Better Off Alone" and "Hold on Me" both appearing in the top 50; the final single, "Bleed You Dry", peaked in the top 100.[4] At the ARIA Music Awards of 2005 it won Best Rock Album and was nominated for Best Group.[6]

As of 2008, the album has gained mostly positive reviews due to it containing the pop of New Detention while placing themselves in a more teen-oriented direction. However, there have been complaints by fans explaining that Grinspoon were "selling out". Undercover's Tim Cashmere felt that "[it] ain't too shabby for your average everyday Grinspoon fan, but if you're not a Grinspoon fan by now, this album won't change your mind."[7] He noted that Benson's contribution "didn't come through so much in the actual song writing or structure of the album, more in the great sounding guitars that he brought through in the band… something the band had been almost hitting, but never quite achieved until now."[7]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Phil Jamieson and Pat Davern,[8] unless otherwise shown.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Hard Act to Follow"	3:27
2.	"Hold on Me"	2:45
3.	"Choke" (Jamieson, Joe Hansen)	4:27
4.	"Bleed You Dry" (Jamieson, Hansen)	3:26
5.	"Enemy"	4:48
6.	"Rising Tide" (Jamieson)	4:23
7.	"Better Off Alone" (Jamieson, Davern, Scott Russo)	3:53
8.	"Kiss It" (Jamieson, Hansen)	3:26
9.	"She's Leaving Tuesday" (Jamieson)	4:00
10.	"Nylon" (Jamieson)	3:37
11.	"Hideaway" (Jamieson, Russo)	3:39
12.	"Replacements"	4:26

Personnel

Grinspoon members

• Pat Davern – lead guitar
• Joe Hansen – bass guitar
• Kristian Hopes – drums
• Phil Jamieson – lead vocals, guitar

Additional musicians

• Paul DeCarli – keyboards
• Keith Nelson – guitar technician
• Jon Nicholson – drum technician

Production

• Howard Benson – producer
• Paul DeCarli – editing, programming
• Eric Miller – assistant engineer
• Mike Plotnikoff – recording, mixing
• Steve Smart – mastering

Art work

• Michael Spiccia – design, art direction
• Yvonne Armstrong, Uri Auerbach, Simon Upton – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2004)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[9]	4

Year-end charts

Chart (2004)	Position
Australian Albums Chart[10]	68

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[11]	Platinum	70,000^^
^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. Nimmervoll, Ed. "Grinspoon". Howlspace – The Living History of Our Music. White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd (Ed Nimmervoll). Archived from the original on 27 July 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
2. Holmgren, Magnus. "Grinspoon". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
3. Atlee, Mike (2 July 2004). "Music News". Australian Music Scrapbook. Archived from the original on 11 May 2006. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
4. Hung, Steffen. "Discography Grinspoon". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Retrieved 13 January 2015.
5. "ARIA Charts - Accreditations – 2004 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
6. "ARIA Awards 2014: History: Winners by Artist". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 11 April 2015.
7. Cashmere, Tim (9 September 2004). "Music Review: Grinspoon". Undercover. Paul Cashmere, Roz O'Gorman. Archived from the original on 18 November 2004. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
8. "'Bleed You Dry' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 10 April 2015. Note: User may have to click on 'Search again' and provide details at 'Enter a title:', e.g. Bleed You Dry; or at 'Performer:' Grinspoon.
9. "Australiancharts.com – Grinspoon – Thrills, Kills & Sunday Pills". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
10. "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 2004". ARIA. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
11. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2004 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2019.