Thunderheist

Through word-of-mouth, a fan video contest and networking sites such as MySpace, Isis and Grahm Zilla, the Toronto/Montreal duo better known as Thunderheist, have blown up without having dropped a first album. Playing circuits like SXSW, VFest, Pop Montreal and CMJ obviously helped but so does being touted as Toronto's very own "hip-hop, shit-hot, disco/electro dance party" by the media, headlining Exclaim!'s upcoming anniversary tour, and even playing at a private after-party for the gay porn awards in San Francisco, a fitting venue for Thunderheist to let the raunchiness flow. Their first official single with Big Dada, Sweet 16, should tide over the rabid masses eagerly awaiting the March release of their full-length album. The four-track EP contains the standard fare for such things: the original, a remix, an album track and an unreleased instrumental/vocoder number. "Sweet 16" forgoes the fat synths used in killer track "Jerk It" and instead plays up the steady, rich (if slightly obnoxious, but in a good way) bass. The Eli Escobar Remix cuts the backbeat while keeping the original tempo and drops the bass for wicked synths and crisp percussion. The ghetto, dirty sounds of "Cruise Low," matched with the in-your-face lyricism provided by Isis, roll nicely from the Escobar remix into the disco-tinged, catchy as hell "Whateveruneed." As the band put it, "Thunderheist sweats Belvedere and Red Bull," which should make for an impressive full-length when the time comes.