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On their new release, Make History, Thunderbirds Are Now! prove that even though they still love their keyboard, there’s only so much weight a high-pitched, laser beam noise can pull. A simple instrument, used in a simple way, it is the last remaining tie to their rowdy, yet utterly enjoyable, dance-punk roots. TAN!’s previous effort, Justamustache, retained their debut album’s frenzy and primitive groove, harnessing it with a more conventional sense of structure and melody. They earned all those Les Savy Fav comparisons. Make History, unfortunately, buries itself with its adherence to conventional sense. The songs are overly repetitious without leading anywhere. ‘Sound Issues Smart Ideas’ is such a bad track, it can’t be put into words — which is maybe why there are next to no lyrics, just the chorus, over and over and over. Fortunately for TAN!, there is ‘Open Us Up.’ The song kicks off with a vocal-keyboard call and response that comes back later as the undercurrent of the chorus, which in turn leads to a bridge that is nothing if not downright rocking… Maybe it’s all the keyboard.
