Thunderbirds Are Now! – Justamustache
(French Kiss)

I’ve had the (dis)pleasure of seeing Thunderbirds Are Now! play twice in the last couple of months, and their rock star posturing, condescending on-stage banter, and perfect indie rock haircuts annoyed me to no end. That said, their live performances were intense and their new album Justamustache surprisingly ranks as one of the most fun albums I’ve heard this year. It’s not often that a band’s music can so easily outweigh an irritating stage presence, but I guess that gives you an indication of their innate ability to rock.

Contrary to what you may think about a band called “Thunderbirds Are Now!”, these guys are not a joke band singing songs with cheesy pop culture references. Oh no, they are much more sophisticated and abstract than that, perhaps better described as a post-punk rock band that draws influences from bands like Les Savy Fav (it’s especially hard not to draw that particular comparison when they are on Les Savy Fav’s own label). The combination of schizophrenic guitars, driving rhythms and effeminate vocals has definitely been done before, but very rarely done this well.

Lead vocalist Ryan Allen has a unique voice that will have many people believing there is at least one girl in this band upon first listen. Alas, there isn’t — although a closer examination of the liner notes reveals that two girls did help with vocals on “Eat This City”. (Aha! I knew it!)

The Thunderbirds Are Now! line-up is also nicely rounded out by a full-time keyboard player, which plays a prominent role in shaping their sound. It’s never overdone on the album, however, as certain songs will be layered with bleeps and other synth noises (“198090 (Aquatic Cupid’s)”) while others will be almost solely guitar-driven (“To: Skulls”). The best tracks find a suitable intersection between both (“Better Safe Than Safari”, “Harpoons Of Love”, “Eat This City”). The one aberration on the album is “Bodies Adjust”; while not a bad song by any means, it’s just heavily electronic in composition and sounds a heck of a lot like Q And Not U.

Virtually every song is packed with hooks, and if you don’t find yourself fascinated by a song’s verse, you can expect to be sold by the chorus or floored by an unexpected sonic shift towards the end of the song. At 10 tracks the album is a little too short, or maybe just about right… I can’t decide. Either way, I look forward to seeing this band’s maturing process. Justamustache is an album that caught me off-guard with its brilliance — and it will only sound that much better if you’ve never had to endure a Thunderbirds Are Now! show before. — Sean

SCORE:

Recommended If You Like: Les Savy Fav, Q And Not U, The Anniversary

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