The recently renovated Social was packed last Wednesday for a double shot of hard-hitting electro-clash courtesy of Paris’s TTC and Thunderheist, a new booty-bass duo who split their time between Montreal and Toronto. Part of the recently revamped New Kicks party, which happens every Wednesday at the Social, the midscale bar was nearing capacity before openers Thunderheist even took the stage.

Milling in with the growing crowd, I caught up with DJ Graham and MC Isis before things got underway. Repping hard in a vintage Expos hat, Graham was excited to play. “It’s only our sixth show ever,” he said of the duo’s quick rise in popularity since their stage debut back in October 2006 (tucked under his arm was the proof: a hot-off-the-press issue of Eye magazine, featuring a wicked mid-air shot of them on the cover). Meanwhile Isis quickly downed a Vodka and Red Bull.

When Thunderheist took the stage, the Social audience had hit the floor and were ready to dance. Their set got underway with the incendiary opener “Anthem,” in which Isis coolly raps over Graham’s sinister, synth-riddled beats. By the start of their third track, the crowd started to overflow onto the stage, with audience members jumping up to get down with Isis. Unfortunately this skipped Graham’s record and forced the duo to momentarily shut things down and clear the stage.

It was obvious that they hated to be party poopers, and would have loved nothing more than to host one giant stage jam, but for the sake of a smooth show, dancing would have to be relegated exclusively to the dance floor.

Throughout their set the instantly likeable pair gave big shout-outs to their parents and significant others, and came off as refreshingly down-to-earth, while dropping huge beats that kept the crowd hopping and yelling. Their set ended with the two jumping all over each other while the crowd showed its wild appreciation, and anticipation for headliners TTC.

Taking a page from the Beastie Boys by sporting three MCs and one DJ, TTC made no delay in getting down at the Social. The quartet were sharp dressers and rapped entirely French (but spoke fluent English in between songs).

Blending elements of euro-dance, house and electro-clash, DJ Orgasmic brought the house down when he dropped hints of Reel to Real’s 1994 epic “I Like to Move It” and “All That She Wants” by Ace of Base. The colourfully-dressed crew had everyone in the room behind them with MC Teki Latex’s rough and aggressive vocals leading the charge. Parties like this need to be the rule in this city, not the exception.

RATING: VVVV