Thunderhawks set to start tongues wagging

For all of the juvenile antics still — thankfully — associated with rock and roll, bands nowadays have to grow up fast. In the dog-eat-dog world of the modern music business, breaks are increasingly hard to come by, meaning that a tireless work ethic and dedication to constantly writing better songs remain the keys to success.

Georgetown, Ontario’s Thunderhawks get all that, and their soon-to-be-released second EP entitled Tongues, is proof that the young quintet is poised to take the giant step toward being an international touring band. Lead vocalist Jeff Richards says that the past six months of recording the latest batch of songs was a turning point for the band in terms of taking their pop/punk sound to the next level.

“It was incredible for us to release our first EP because no one knew who we were,” he said. “We went into the studio with those five songs having no idea how they would turn out, and we couldn’t be happier with how they did. But recording the six songs on the new EP gave us a new understanding of where we wanted to be with the band and our sound. We feel they show growth and maturity, but also stick to our same sound that people seem to enjoy.”

It’s also taken until now for the Thunderhawks lineup to stabilize, although everyone who has been involved has been part of the same circle of high school friends from Georgetown. “We have had new guitarists almost every year we’ve been a band,” Richards says. “There was a good scene at our school with a lot of musicians that seemed inspired by the same bands like The Flatliners and Moneen.

“That gave us all a common goal of wanting to have the same success they did while of course writing our own material. The more we jammed, the more songs kept on being produced. So we took it from the basement to the stage and haven’t had a bad time yet. We hope to keep building on that foundation, and we believe the new album shows that growth.”

Mixing standard teen angst with a wry sense of humour was the biggest strength of Thunderhawks’ first songwriting attempts, and they’ve continued in that vein on Tongues, especially with standout tracks such as Tequila Mockingbird and the title song. The real challenge for Richards is always crafting a melody around the band’s blazingly lock-step arrangements.