The Action Design

After Tsunami Bomb's 2005 split, bassist Matt McKenzie and vocalist Emily "Agent M" Whitehurst formed the Action Design, a project that allows for experimentation beyond TB's pop-punk parameters. Invariably forceful and energetic with her old outfit, Agent M now coos like a breathy torch singer over piano backdrops and recalls Debbie Harry's passionate cool during jaunty new wave numbers. While Tsunami Bomb traces remain, from M's trademark lyrical admonitions ("You've been found out") to the way the song title "Scissor Game" evokes the scissors-intensive album art for TB's final record The Definitive Act, the Action Design's kinetic rhythms introduce choreographic possibilities beyond the pogo.