|
| |
|
|
THUNDERBIRDS ARE NOW!
Manic fanatics
|
|
|
|
|
The exclamation point boasted by Thunderbirds Are Now! would seem to promise an explosive show. And they acknowledged this responsibility Saturday night at T.T. the Bear’s Place with the single exclamation point that dotted the face of their kick drum. The Detroit-bred punkish new-wave group batted third in a mixed-up line-up produced by the people behind club night the Pill: angular indie rock by TAN!’s French Kiss label mates Rahim, Boston’s smooth Cyanide Valentine, and neo-new-wave band the Information. The Info may have headlined, but Thunderbirds ruled. Frontman Ryan Allen, looking like a cherubic Philip Seymour Hoffman, screamed as he scratched out spiraling Fugazi guitar lines while his brother Scott, a pretty boy in a rooster haircut, pumped melodic bursts of synth splatters. Scott has the crowd-pleasing rock moves: he jumps like Diamond Dave, outshowboats the Hives’ Pelle Almqvist, and throws his tambourine around as if he were a Harlem Globetrotter. His antics included running into the crowd and brushing his teeth on stage. He played the dumb blonde to the smarter-assed Ryan, who noted that the song "This World Is Paper" quotes Denis Johnson’s short-story collection Jesus’ Son. Apart from one song from the band’s Brainiac-ish 2003 debut, Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief (Action Driver), the set stuck with their new and more manic Justamustache (French Kiss). The tight rhythm section held things together for the Brothers Allen, and the crowd even danced during "Eat This City." The members of Rahim joined the Thunderbirds on a new chant-heavy tune (no title as yet) that brought to mind French Kiss’s standard bearer, Les Savy Fav, and hinted that the Allens’ songwriting skills are catching up to their showmanship.
BY ELISABETH DONNELLY
|
