Album Review: W H O K I L L by tUnE-yArDs

There are two very important influences on the indie music scene right now.  First is 60's pop, especially the Beach Boys and girl groups with their harmonies and big sound.  Second is the post-punk movement of the early 80's.  The interest in many ways in post-punk stems from the fact that post-punk was heavily influenced by the 60's pop scene and especially girl groups as well. 

This leads us to talk about tUnE-yArDs the experimental solo project of Merrill Garbus.  She, like so many currently, is fascinated with layering vocals and constructing rich, complex music around these vocals.  That's a classic blending of 60's pop and post-punk.  But Garbus sounds like no one else.  In part because she pulls rhythms from every branch of music and in some cases blends them together.  Secondly she treats her voice like the most complex instrument at her disposal.  What she produces is incredible experimental, noise, pop.

This album is not for everyone, but this is a pretty good album, maybe even a really good album.  I really cracked on Panda Bear recently for their dull lifeless experimental junk, and I said that I should not have to listen to experimental music, well listening to this album reminds me of how experimental music can be good, even for non-musicians like myself, when it's well constructed. 

This would be a great album to play during the day while walking around New York City.

Following the Rhapsody rating method I give it 3 out of 5 stars for Pretty Good.