Shanghai Thrills

By T. Blake Littwin
Photo by Ben Maitland-Lewis

On the first track of Shanghai Thrills’ new album, singer/guitarist Andrew Sgro sings “You’re not dreaming / I changed that quickly.” The lyric is a strangely concise insight into both the album and the band. The story behind the five tracks on Goodbye Guilt, Hello Lies is relatively straightforward. “The songs we choose are about change and seeing what someone is capable of,” says Sgro. “It’s very affirmative. Aggression can be positive.” The band’s recent history is slightly more complicated.

Six months ago, Shanghai Thrills was a pop-rock quartet with Sgro on guitar, Dave Trombley on bass, and brothers Tim and Erik Carleton on drums and vocals respectively. When Carleton amicably left the group, the remaining three members were given an intimidating opportunity to reinvent the band.

In November of 2007, Shanghai Thrills began recording their debut EP with producer Scott Riebling who (besides playing bass in Letters To Cleo) had produced albums by Fallout Boy, Gym Class Heroes, Cobra Starship, and The Academy Is. To go along with their new lineup and sound, the band also undertook a new approach to recording. “We finished it in three weeks instead of months so it’s not as intricate” explains Sgro. “All of the arrangements and song writing was pretty much finished before we went into the studio, so it’s a little raw. Sonically, it’s less precise, but it’s still super huge”

In the end, Shanghai Thrills walked away with a dynamic album and maybe a few additional pounds. “Scott did a perfect job of capturing the sounds as I imagined them. And he is as good a chef as he is a producer and engineer, so we ate well.”
Goodbye Guilt, Hello Lies draws on the best of modern rock trends without sounding derivative or recycled. Solid drumming and muscular bass lines pulse under seething guitars. There is no overproduction here. “Jet Lag” bends and soars like the Smashing Pumpkins if Billy Corgan lightened up. “Sold” showcases quieter verses exploding into loud choruses like the Pixies. Shanghai Thrills also looked to another trio who worked quite successfully within the loud/quiet/loud dynamic. “I listened to Nirvana’s In Utero for inspiration,’ says Sgro. “Cobain always did a great job of making songs interesting and powerful with simple parts.”

This past February, the band underwent yet another lineup change. “Just when you make a record as a three-piece, a great friend and great guitar player comes on the market,” laughs Sgro. The man in question is second guitarist and ex-Automatic Loveletter member Ross Gruet who joined Shanghai Thrills just in time for the album release and a national tour. “Ross has already brought so much to the table; we’re so much bigger sounding and tighter now. He does all the big stuff and little stuff the right way”

Change can be a volatile force (as the burning car on the cover of Goodbye Guilt, Hello Lies seems to hint at) but it also can kick things into high gear. With a new album, a new lineup, and a long tour ahead of them, Shanghai Thrills seems to be a band that ascribes to the latter view.

www.shanghaithrills.com