You’d never guess Thunderheist are from Canada. For one thing, there
are only two of them — at least a dozen members short of Broken
Social Scene’s and Arcade Fire’s numbers. Plus, they make Detroit-style
techno for dance floors, not clever indie-pop for nodding hipsters. But
that doesn’t mean the songs on their self-titled debut album are
distinctive or even all that interesting, especially since Grahm Zilla
and Isis dispense the two best songs — “Sweet 16” and “Jerk It”
— right off the bat. Part of the problem is Zilla’s beats;
they’re stuck on repeat. The other problem is Isis, who comes off more
machine than singer. Thunderheist is designed for sparkly club
kids who find commands like “Dust it off and jerk it” an amusing
throwback to better, and more coked-up, days. —
Gallucci
This article appears in Apr 1-7, 2009.
