This one was always going to be something special. Merrill Garbus’ – a.k.a. tUnE-yArDs – sophomore release W H O K I L L is an album that defies categorisation blending elements of jazz, rock, rap and African rhythms into one of the most original and distinctive releases of last year. It’s clear from the buzzed-up crowd that this long sold-out show has been much anticipated, and while most will have checked out tUnE-yArDs various live performances online there is still an element of excitement in wondering just what tonight’s set-up will entail. Dublin post-rock duo Thread Pulls warm up an already simmering crowd with songs from their debut album New Thoughts. The band – just bass and drums with sampled loops, high-pitched vocals and discordant trumpet wails – lay out percussion-laden, repetitive, rolling rhythms creating a dark and atmospheric wall of sound. There is no escaping a Liars comparison here and fans of that band will either lap this up or scoff at how close Thread Pulls are to the bludgeoning drum and bass-heavy sound of the US band. In the absence of a Liars gigs though this will do nicely and it is a perfect precursor to tUnE-yArDs. It’s only a shame that they played to an almost-packed floor that wasn’t quite ready to dance just yet. That was to come.
Garbus comes out alone and begins singing acapella. I say singing but she coos, wails, moans and everything else in between, going from high-pitched choir-like notes down to guttural groans in the same breath, an astonishing display of vocal gymnastics that elicits nervous laughter from some, but an admiring turn-to-the-person-beside-you-“fuckin’ hell” from most. This is tribal, raw, and when Garbus screams “Do you wanna live?” the only crowd response is “YEAH!” She is then joined for ‘Bizness’ by her band; a bass player, and two saxophone players channelling, one imagines, the nipples of Gina Lollobrigida and Kim Basinger. This music has soul but it ain’t got corners. There is no downtime for these musicians – if fingers aren’t on strings, keys or buttons there is some form of percussion instrument being played. Garbus, armed only with a snare drum, floor tom and ukulele, builds rich, full grooves with intricate vocal harmonies and I’ll tell you what, no ukulele ever sounded like this where you or I were reared. ‘Es-so’ leads into ‘Gangster’, the catalyst that transforms the crowd from swaying onlookers to a bouncing mass before descending into ordered chaos and smiles all around.
‘Powa’ and B-side ‘Youth’ calm things down again before Garbus is re-joined by her saxophone players for ‘Doorstep’, a feast of layered loops and effects. ‘Yes Yes You’ rounds off the set with the singer instructing “This is where you JUMP!” A mental switch is flicked, and band and audience pogo in unison. This was a band enjoying themselves as much as we were, with the singer assured, uninhibited and setting the template for the rest of the tour. The one-song encore consists of ‘My Country’ and one last chance to dance, as Garbus informs the balcony dwellers. The bass player chips in his first and only vocal of the night on this one to good natured cheers each time – goodwill was in plentiful supply after this fantastic show. As an opening night of a tour, neither performer nor punter could ask for a better kick-off.
Justin McDaid
Contributor
7 Responses to Review: tUnE-yArDs – Button Factory, 12/02/2012
tune-Yards were great.
Thread Pulls not bad either, but thread pulls who you compare to Liars are not post-rock and neither are liars, post-punk maybe, definetly not post-rock. if you are writing about music, it is important to get your genres correct…..surely?
hows it going billy. i cant say i agree with you on Liars not being post rock but its one genre you could lump them into along with punk, post punk, experimental, alternative and a host of others. post rock works for me in this context, i have a word count here
Post-rock……a lot of the time vocal-less, usually guitar noodling with pretensions towards jazz/ambient.
some post-rock bands from original wave, mid 90′s…Tortoise, Mogwai, Godspeed you black Emperor, A silver mt zion.
you have a few bands over here also, e.g. redneck manifesto, enemies.
last time I saw Liars they were a lurching, demented post-punk explosion, the antithesis of the bands mentioned above.
Definetly not post rock in any any shape or form, and thread Pulls certainly aren’t. Please get it right, its important stuff to a lot of people.
i think you are getting too caught up in trying to find a dictionary definition of what post rock is, i mean take this quote for instance:
“post-rock rejected (or subverted) any elements it associated with rock tradition. It was far more concerned with pure sound and texture than melodic hooks or song structure; it was also usually instrumental, and if it did employ vocals, they were often incidental to the overall effect.” http://www.allmusic.com/explore/style/post-rock-d2682
thats fairly all encompassing (and just one definition) but applicable to all of the above. i mean take the first couple of sentences of the article, i think its completely fair to apply that concise summation to thread pulls and liars as well as the bands you have mentioned. im not disagreeing with the post punk tag either, but at the end of the day they are just convenient tags to throw on a band when you cant be arsed cataloguing their every influence and style of playing. would you have any objections to liars being labelled prog rock? its more appropriate than any of the countless other sub-genres
not caught up in any dictionary definition hunting, if you are writing about music it would be nice for the reader to know what genre it is if they haven’t heard of the band.
if you can’t be arsed cataloguing the correct genre you might as well label country and western rap and vice versa. yes i
…yes i would object to Liars being labelled prog rock, as thats even further off the mark.
well in the words of the great Bill O’Herlihy, “We’ll leave it there so.”