fri 29/03/2024

tUnE-yArDs, Scala | reviews, news & interviews

tUnE-yArDs, Scala

tUnE-yArDs, Scala

Lullaby sweet, spoilt child brash, and 100 percent brilliant

Despite appearances, Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner of tUnE-yArDs create anything but laid-back music

Sometimes you hear something new and your perspective on music shifts seismically, making everything you were listening to previously sound safe and predictable by comparison. Inevitably, as one gets older and more musically knowledgeable, such moments are fewer and further between; either the shock of the new isn’t as high-voltage as it used to be, or it just irritates rather than stimulates. And so it was a pleasant surprise when, one morning – heralded by a storm of tape hiss and an enthusiastically bashed tribal drum – a new band called tUnE-yArDs (aka Merrill Garbus) came at me from the hi-fi speakers like a Dadaist, feminist pop warrior.

Sometimes you hear something new and your perspective on music shifts seismically, making everything you were listening to previously sound safe and predictable by comparison. Inevitably, as one gets older and more musically knowledgeable, such moments are fewer and further between; either the shock of the new isn’t as high-voltage as it used to be, or it just irritates rather than stimulates. And so it was a pleasant surprise when, one morning – heralded by a storm of tape hiss and an enthusiastically bashed tribal drum – a new band called tUnE-yArDs (aka Merrill Garbus) came at me from the hi-fi speakers like a Dadaist, feminist pop warrior.

‘Their songs are fizzing with hooks and mini-hooks, so that barely a minute passes without an audience member yodelling, screaming or singing along’

Share this article

Comments

This is a really great review of what was a superb gig. The grooves were addictive, her voice incredible, the whole outfit tight. An awesome night - my toes are still tapping!

Add comment

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters