tUnE-yArDs Hit the Streets With Their Latest ‘Gangsta’ Video
Merrill Garbus (a.k.a. tUnE-yArDs) has been the queen of the DIY music scene since her first record BiRd-BrAiNs (which was mixed through the popular MAC-friendly program GarageBand and released on a recycled cassette-tape) that blew us away back in 2009.
As the strange typeface of her name suggests, Garbus is not about conforming to any expectation. Her songs are a bold hybrid of folk, R&B, rock, funk, and then there’s her voice, which is altogether unclassifiable.
The looped vocals that permeate through each track take the grit of say, Leonard Cohen‘s voice along with the sweetness of something like Ella Fitzgerald‘s crooning, all thrown together in a roaring package. Garbus possesses a kind of primitivism in her singing that suggests she could take on (or be) any grown man.
After the success of tUnE-yArDs’ debut album and accompanying live tour, where Garbus and bassist Nate Brenner astounded audiences with their powerful performances, the band signed to 4AD and moved to Oakland, California to record w h o k i l l.
So maybe it was the infamous violence of the urban area that inspired the kind of territorial warning that “Gangsta” is? Either way, Garbus’ savage voice works perfectly with lines like “Never move to my hood, cause danger is crawlin’ out the wood.”
The track’s music video, directed by Garbus and featuring herself and backing musicians, adds a whole new layer of primal warfare to the mix. In black and white, the band contorts and twists their bodies under the streetlights.
It’s the kind of no-holds-barred dancing that seems to perfectly accompany the track.
Get some brand new dance floor (or if you prefer to dance in the middle of the street…) inspiration by checking out the video for “Gangsta” below!
