Tag: Thunderbirds Are Now!

PLAYING DETROIT: Thunderbirds Are Now! End 10-Year Hiatus with Trump Protest Anthem

Pioneers of Detroit’s early 2000’s caffeinated punk movement, Thunderbirds Are Now! shake off unofficial retirement to rework an old track for the new regime. “Outsiders” finds our riotous foursome angrier than usual and not at all rusty as they hauntingly remind the elected puppeteers that “we are the outsiders, and we’ll be watching you.”

Our protagonist, a defiant youth clad in a terrifying paper Trump mask (and iconic Vans slip-ons), runs amok in suburbia with an arm full of fireworks while real-life Trump tweets troll the screen. It seems like a dystopian nightmare but the cleverly simplistic visual for “Outsiders” elicits an urgent call to action that overpowers those fears. Remember when Green Day delivered the unnerving American Idiot saga? This follows suit, but makes the Bush administration feel like a thunderstorm compared to Trump’s locust-infested pre-apocalypse.

The chorus kicks off with “You’re not our president!” over an energetic, ragged and shimmering orchestra of punk perfection and we are forced to soak in our own festering distress while still managing to shimmy through the despair. Thunderbirds Are Now! may have stayed quiet over the past decade but they’ve reemerged with an artillery of words that will surely become a rigid patch in the quilt of American protest anthems.

Get fired up with “Outsiders” below and visit Thunderbirds Are Now! Bandcamp to download the latest tracks. All proceeds go to benefit the ACLU.

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PLAYING DETROIT: FAWNN “Galaxies”

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Dreamy Detroit indie rock foursome FAWNN premiered their first single off of their anticipated forthcoming sophomore album Ultimate Oceans on Stereogum last week. An iridescent pop track reminiscent of Washed Out meets a sedated The New Pornographers,”Galaxies” is familiar and satisfying yet feels defeated. “Galaxies” is prom night for mid to late twenty-somethings who sway in misguided unison to the shared disenchantment of young love turned static: the death of the honeymoon phase. Listless imagery painting spacial comparisons between intimacy and celestial phenomena is nothing new, and FAWNN struggles to breathe sincerity into this very evocation. What “Galaxies” DOES provide, however, is the aural equivalent to the ambivalence of drinking overly spiked punch, texting your ex a sad version of “hey” and half-heartedly hoping you don’t end up going home alone. The bass line is lulling and instinctual and when paired with the droll delicacies of the vocal harmonies, “Galaxies” creates more distance than it fills. This is likely an intentional sensation as the stand out lyric “Now that we’re allowed to touch/it’s over/Galaxies inside” encapsulates simply the boredom and painful loss of fascination when a love/like has run its respective course. Maybe that’s what makes “Galaxies” a frustrating listen. Maybe it yanks on that dark inner mess that we have been meaning to clean up but just haven’t made time for. It’s a song about passionate indifference and although successful in its glittery tones and thoughtful production, it is almost too literal in its heartbroken lethargy to feel anything more than “meh.”

Space out with the first taste from FAWNN’s latest “Galaxies” below:

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PLAYING DETROIT: The Return of FAWNN

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Photos by Alicia Gbur. Clockwise from top left: Christian Doble, Michael Spence, Matt Rickle, and Alicia Gbur.

Whilst record shopping, my eye caught a gig poster featuring none other than one of my longtime favorite local foursomes, FAWNN, and I thought to myself, “these assholes should take that poster down.” I figured it was old, and that the record store should be punished for getting my hopes up. To my surprise, it wasn’t old, and the show hadn’t happened yet. In fact, FAWNN joins Siamese, Odd Hours, and Tart January 30th at The Loving Touch in Ferndale.

When FAWNN formed in 2010, they were already seasoned veterans of the indie rock Detroit culture. Alicia Gbur was front woman of The Nice Device as well as a touring member of The Von Bondies. Christian Doble rocked with Child Bite and Kiddo, and later added drummer Matt Rickle of Javelins and Thunderbirds Are Now!, along with Mike Spence who was a member of the sultry pop force Those Transatlantics. With their rich musical resumes backing them and their irreverent collage of talent propelling them, FAWNN created their first LP, Coastlines, in 2012. Reminiscent of The New Pornographers’ Twin Cinema meets The Shins’ Chutes Too Narrow with a sprinkling of Surfer Blood’s Astro Coast, Coastlines fell into the category of albums that demanded an encore. Four years later, it looks as though we will finally get one.

“We’ve been recording it over the last two years and it’s finished! It’s called Ultimate Oceans and will be out on Quite Scientific in the late spring,” says friend and drummer, Matt Rickle. “We’re stoked about it. The four of us really hit a good stride.” The gap between releases was contingent on guitarist Mike Spence, who split to take a job opportunity. “We didn’t want to replace him,” Rickle said. “But now he’s back! It took a little time to get this album together. It never really felt like we stopped.”

Yes, it’s great news that FAWNN is returning. But after knowing Rickle for as long as I have and learning that he is as passionate of an admirer as I am, it was impossible for me not to mention the magnitude of our shared mourning over the loss of the incomparable David Bowie. “Ever since I discovered my dad’s copy of Young Americans 20 years ago, Bowie has been it for me. He gave me a taste of the strange early on, and my tastes went sideways ever since then,” says Rickle. “I feel like I recognize his urge to always try something different and reinvent your creativity.” I have no doubt that FAWNN’s followup will be an expression of the aforementioned reinvention of creativity, and Detroit can’t wait to hear what that sounds like.

Check out the video for “No Wave” from FAWNN’s 2012 release here:

 

 

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