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All mid-tempo, laid-back, guitar-strumming ear candy with a slight shade of Traveling Wilburys (especially the opening track "Runaway Feeling").

Harmonies on "Such A Shame" recall The Beatles' "Because."

Personally, the surprise gem of the bunch is the cover of The Jayhawks' "Blue," a song that always gave me goosebumps and The Thorns' version continues to do so.

In sum, if you love and collect strumming guitar pop-rock containing three-part male harmonies, you would be remiss to not add this to your collection while it's at an introductory price.

As a postscript, I should say I'm approaching this as a Matthew Sweet fanatic, and would like to point to his other solo works and underappreciated contributions to Lloyd Cole's late 1980's solo albums. No doubt this Thorns CD will lead others to the respective solo works of Pete Droge and Shawn Mullins, which, looking at it all cynically, is kind of the point here.


The Thorns - Superb Harmonies and Songwriting   June 13, 2003
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

This is my favorite CD of 2003 so far. This trio of singer/songwriters, Pete Droge, Shawn Mullins, and the brilliant popster, Matthew Sweet, might seem, at first, like an odd grouping, but they harmonize in the vein of CSN, America, and the Beach Boys. This is not to say that the album is a lightweight, throwaway, soft rock cheesefest. Standout songs are "No Blue Sky," "Long, Sweet Summer Night," "I Can't Remember," and "Blue," the cover of a classic Jayhawks tune, but really every song shines. PICK THIS UP!


Pleasant But Rarely Memorable   July 15, 2003
 5 out of 8 found this review helpful

Pop Kulcher Review: Here's an album I really wanted to like but, alas, was kind of put off by the fact that it's painfully lame. Well, ok, maybe not quite that bad, but it's boring, and a huge disappointment. The Thorns are, I suppose, something of an indie rock supergroup. Matthew Sweet, one of my favorite indie pop stars of the '90's, teams up with Pete Droge (an indie singer-songwriter whose name I've seen but I don't know much about) and Shawn Mullins (who had that nifty video awhile back with the Lolita actress but that's about all I know of his work). Put 'em together, and they sound a lot like CSN. I mean, a LOT. Plus a lot like Tom Petty's more recent stuff. Now, Tom Petty and CSN have their virtues, but they're not the sort of artists I'd want to emulate. To be sure, the album has a pleasant, organic feel largely missing from Matthew Sweet's more recent work (which had veered from the amazing crunchy guitar power-pop he'd mastered into less appealing synth-heavy territory), and it works fine as Sunday morning background music, but aside from a few relatively hummable choruses, nothing here registers for very long. I suspect it might have turned out better had they gone the way of most supergroups, letting each of the trio contribute a few of his own songs backed by the others; instead, it sounds like they tried to meet somewhere in the middle, resulting in a surprisingly consistent yet sadly watered-down product.


major disappointment   July 26, 2003
 5 out of 11 found this review helpful

OK, I should probably start by saying that, with one of my favorite songwriters on earth (Sweet), and two others who I admire greatly, I probably set my expectations for this release at an unrealistic level. I also should have learned my lesson from many previous attempts at "supergroups". Nonetheless, this cannot be considered anything but disappointing. The myriad reviews which cite CSNY as a reference point are extremely misleading. This is not "Deja Vu" revisited, it's more like "America" revisited. Gorgeous harmonizing yes, but little else. The songwriting is particularly weak.
Compounding this frustration is the fact that Mr. Sweet did release a wonderful album this year (his first in three years) but made it available only in Japan. Oh, you can get a copy here, but it'll set you back $$.
Bottom line, if you are a huge fan of America, Bread, or Seals and Crofts, these Thorns are for you. If you like a little more oomph in your music, save your money and hope that Kimi Ga Suki is released domestically sometime soon.


A gem   August 14, 2003
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

The Thorns' debut CD is one of those recordings that finds its way into your player, and then (happily) just won't leave. I came to this CD mainly as a fan of Matthew Sweet, but I have always loved Shawn Mullins' voice, and Pete Droge's wit. And, this is a record where the parts add up to a lovely, mellifluous whole. In a perfect world, where rock radio played songs based on merit and on that certain something that great songs have, "Long Sweet Summer Night" would be a touchstone for the dog days of 2003. But, perhaps the song that works best one the record (although there a many candidates) is "I Told You". Rarely has a song mined the depths of heartbreak, unrequited love and longing as well as this achingly beautiful tune. All in all, "The Thorns" may not change your life, but it is a gem, and I can only hope that the band is planning a follow-up.