Photos of tUnE-yArDs at Prospect Park Bandshell in Brooklyn, NY on August 8th, 2015
Photos of tUnE-yArDs at 2015 Maverick Music Festival in San Antonio, TX
Photos of tUnE-yArDs at Bass Concert Hall in Austin, TX on January 31st, 2015
Photos of tUnE-yArDs at 2014 Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, TX
Photos of tUnE-yArDs at 2014 Music Fest NW in Portland, OR
QRO’s review of tUnE-yArDs on Austin City Limits in Austin, TX on May 29th, 2012
Photos of tUnE-yArDs at 2012 Sasquatch! Festival in George, WA
QRO’s review of tUnE-yArDs at Shepherds Bush Empire in London, U.K. on February 15th, 2012
Photos of tUnE-yArDs at Lincoln Center Allen Room in New York, NY on February 9th, 2012
Photos of tUnE-yArDs at 2011 Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, TX
QRO’s review of tUnE-yArDs at Hoxton Bar & Kitchen in London, U.K. on September 15th, 2011
Photos of tUnE-yArDs at Hudson River Park in New York, NY on July 14th, 2011
Photos of tUnE-yArDs at 2011 Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain
Photos of tUnE-yArDs at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY, on May 21st, 2011
It’s kind of amazing that Merrill Garbus – a.k.a. tUnE-yArDs – has gotten as successful as she has. Her music has more in common with African drum circles than anything in the indie-sphere. She uses instruments even the hippest of hipsters wouldn’t think of – and then loops them live. She doesn’t even give in to the beauty fixation that every female artist has to face sooner or later. Just look at how she spells her band name! Yet she was discovered with 2009 debut BiRd-BrAiNs and established with 2011’s w h o k i l l (QRO review). And for newest Nikki Nack, Garbus takes even a further step away from the catchier moments of w h o k i l l.
Nikki Nack begins with “Find a New Way”, and while the record doesn’t completely deviate from Garbus’ singular way with complicated beats, she often tends more towards the disconcerting, even disturbing. There are stark songs like “Hey Life” and even neo-tropical in the following “Sink-O”, but they more make you sit up and take notice of your surroundings, rather than lie back and have fun. She has a way with rhythm throughout the album, maybe best done when she manages to pull off being disjointed on “Left Behind”.
Now, this is still a tUnE-yArDs release, so there are still oddities like the African sing-along “Water Fountain” or the distance nonsense voices “Why Do We Dine On the Tots?”, and some work better than others (like “Water Fountain” over “Tots?” or the lower-key, tech meandering “Look Around”). But even if there are few succeeding commercially at Garbus’ style, that hasn’t prevented her from pushing further.