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.