Pitchfork

On December 29, while the rest of us were busy basking in the post-holiday glow, Detroit spazz-rockers Thunderbirds Are Now! posted some unseasonably uncheerful news on their website:

"It is with great sadness that we announce the departure of our beloved drummer Michael Durgan from the Thunderbirds Are Now! fold. After four-plus years as a member (and the only original one left standing, at that) Mike is going to be moving on to the real life issues that playing in a full-time touring band sometimes make impossible to tend to. Please know that the split is completely amicable and we all remain great friends, and that his presence and dedication to the band will be truly missed."

Durgan's last performance with the band was on New Year's Eve at the Lager House in Detroit. Thunderbirds guitarist Ryan Allen told Pitchfork this week that Matt Rickle, of fellow Detroit group Javelins, will fill in behind the kit for the band's February and March tours dates, which include a trek through Australia with French Kiss Records labelmates Les Savy Fav and the Hold Steady, an American tour with Rahim, and a gaggle of performances at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas in mid-March, including a French Kiss showcase. Come fly away:

02-21 Los Angeles, CA - Avalon *
02-25 Sydney, Australia - Gaelic Club *
02-27 Melbourne, Australia - The Corner Hotel *
03-01 Perth, Australia - The Rosemount *
03-02 Adelaide, Australia - Jive *
03-03 Brisbane, Australia - The Zoo *
03-04 Sydney, Australia - TBA *
03-09 Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen #$
03-10 Milwaukee, WI - Onopa Brewery $+
03-11 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground $%
03-12 Lawrence, KS - Jackpot $
03-13 Oklahoma City, OK - Conservatory $
03-14 Denton, TX - Hailey's $
03-15 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-16 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-17 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-18 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon $
03-19 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn $
03-20 Nashville, TN - The End $
03-21 St. Louis, MO - Creepy Crawl $^
03-22 Dekalb, IL - Kickstand $&

* with Les Savy Fav, the Hold Steady
# with Call Me Lightning
$ with Rahim
+ with Plastic Constellations
% with Criteria
^ with The Octopus Project, Team Up!, Micahveil, Think Thank Thunk
& with Inspector Owl, My Other Car Is a Kayak

Allen said that the band hopes that Rickle will stick around for the recording of Thunderbirds' forthcoming third album, tentatively titled Make History, and due this coming summer. As for the sound of the record, Allen had this to say:

"We're trying to write songs that have a bit of timelessness to them. I want to attempt to make something...that doesn't just feel comfortable existing in a genre that could be gone in two years. So I guess people should expect a bit more variance in the songs. Expect some acoustic guitars, lots of harmonies and vocals, and some layering that we didn't get to do on the last one. But also expect tons of energy and our version of fast rock songs, with crazy keyboards and guitars and all the stuff that people liked about Justamustache."

He continued, "It won't be a total overhaul or a drastic change, but there will be enough of a change that maybe the white belt kids might not get it. Or maybe it'll open their eyes to the fact that there's something more to music than a tight t-shirt, girl jeans, and sassy, spastic screaming. Who knows? Maybe it'll totally suck! I guess what I'm trying to say is that we're capable of a lot more than a disco beat and some angular rock thing...so expect more than just that on the next album."