Merill Garbus doesn't look like a rock star. On a carpet with felt roads designed for toy cars and trains, she plays with an assortment of her own toys and has a hell of a time doing it.
Garbus' painted face, bare feet, and pink puffy sleeves atop a black frock make her look more like a kid having a good time than an indie rocker. The adorable front-woman of tUnE-yArDs, Wednesday night's headliner at Rhino's, plays with toms, mics, a ukulele, and a toy box full of effects pedals to loop and mold a sound from any beat, rhythm, or pattern she imagines.
However, the difference between Garbus' technique and that of other indie rock artists is her transparency with her craft. There's a delicate art to creating the sounds she does, and hearing each new one layered over the previous is a flavorful treat.
What that flavor resembles is practically impossible to pin down. tUnE-yArDs builds a completely innovative sound out of horns, a funky bass line, Garbus' hauntingly elegant vocals, and a cornucopia of random percussion.
All the audience knows is that it's a mess of fun. The packed house at Rhino's was with Garbus on every beat she seemed to construct out of thin air. Her ability to slowly build in intricacy served as an infectious wave over a dance-happy crowd. They remained stoked even as her tone wavered to more graceful and sorrowful on tracks like "Powa."
But Wednesday night was all about having fun. Garbus maintained a cheek-to-cheek grin on upbeat burners "My Country" and "Gangsta," and then again as the alto and tenor sax duo rattled off wild and fluttering solos during "Bizness," the evening's highlight. She even gave a shout-out to her bassist and songwriting partner Nate Brenner as Bloomington's "home-town hero."
Remarkably, the subtlety in Garbus' many sonic concoctions were well mixed in Rhino's typically barren, concrete hole of sound. The saxophones could've been turned up a hair, but what do you expect from Rhino's?
What's more, Rhino's doesn't score any points for the painfully slow waiting game they expected the antsy audience to play before any music even began. Local indie pop rockers Sleeping Bag didn't perform until 9:00 after an advertised 8:00 start. Thankfully and surprisingly, a band called Sleeping Bag proved to be a particularly upbeat and bouncy indie trio. They were hindered slightly by the drummer and lead vocalist's monotone singing, but a hooky and busy guitarist served as a good warm-up for an audience anxious to move.
Less welcome was Pat Jordache and his band from Montreal. They were delayed until 10:15 (due to what seemed like a trip to RadioShack to replace a short cable), frustrating an already tired audience on this weekday evening. Their set combined a somewhat electronica backdrop with two drummers and Jordache's baritone yelping. At worst, his vocals resembled a bad blend of Elvis Costello and Warren Zevon, but they were redeemed slightly in the second half of their set with some more accessible rock anthems.
Still, this night belonged to Garbus. Girls screamed as she arrived and men shouted marriage proposals. It's because although there's some real maturity in her music, it can sound as though she's having as much fun as a toddler with a set of drums.
Post and photography by Brian Welk
