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Soundbites: Thunderbirds Are Now!

Taleen Kalenderian (Contact)
Published: Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Thunderbirds Are Now! “Make History” Frenchkiss Records (Out of 5)

Thunderbirds Are Now!’s first album, “Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief,” was pure, unfiltered chaos with abrasive, angular guitars and absurd frequencies that could induce a “Mars Attacks”-esque alien brain explosion on any music listener. Song titles such “Not Witherspoon, But Silverstone” and “Babygirl, I Got Ten Kids (Let’s Not Make it Eleven)” were almost more bizarre than the music. In the band’s second full-length album, “Making History,” the song titles are more subtle. Shockingly enough, so is the music. The compact unfaltering instrumentation that used to drive on song after song and within each track is gone, replaced by a metered, controlled psychosis with new, expansive and surprising sounds in the mix, such as sleigh bells. The music’s only consistency is its running investment in the keyboard and random synth-induced spacey sounds slipping in. The album opens with “Panthers in Crime,” a song with the aforementioned sleigh bells and sweeping vocals – a scary change to hear, even after it escalates to old Thunderbirds-ey signatures. “We Win (Ha Ha)” could be a more poppy Arctic Monkeys single sans the sluggy British accent, showcasing T.A.N!’s radio-friendly effort. “Sound Issues/Smart Ideas” is one of the more dancey, angular guitar numbers, exhibiting the closely monitored chaos Thunderbirds is exercising, making the listener surprised the band has not provided a Franz Ferdinand cover on the album. “Make History” takes the leftover energy from the band’s adrenaline-laced old material and compresses it by tossing in some of its components. The difference is the one between the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s “Fever To Tell” and “Show Your Bones,” without figuring “Maps” into the equation and multiplying the change tenfold. Compared with the band’s earlier work, this album sounds like the boys of T.A.N! went to rehab for ADD and threw a Prozac dance party to celebrate getting let out. This unfortunately sacrifices the urgency that came from the deficit spazz, but it makes for great radio singles and an invitation for experimentation. “Make History” is uneven, confused and all over the place in the sonic landscape of the album, functioning as a loose template for the band to build on with future albums. The Thunderbirds also reduce the risk of fizzling out with the former spazz-for-spazz’s sake formula, managing to keep the dance and even a little bit of the craziness.