tUnE-yArDs: whokill

"tUnE-yArDs is the musical vehicle of 32-year-old Connecticut native Merrill Garbus. You might have heard bits of the lo-fi debut album, BiRd-BrAiNs, in a Blackberry ad if nowhere else. The ad is set in the Bay Area, Garbus's adopted home since leaving Montreal to devote her time to music, and sets a bike courier blathering about his 'future phone' to a wobbly, backyard lovesong. Sophomore album whokill comes out in April, and few sophomore albums present such an intriguing prospect, particularly because the debut was a scrappy, lo-fi affair, recorded as cheaply as possible before Garbus had much idea that anyone else would be listening. How she takes on her growing audience will be as interesting as the evolution of her songwriting. ... Garbus's success hasn't much changed her approach to performance -- supplemented only by [Nate] Brenner's terse bass, she layers loops of vocals, a floor tom and anything else within reach of her sticks, and one hard-worked ukulele" (Andrew Iliff, "Festival Findings," New Haven Advocate, 3/24/11).
View catalog record here!