Whokill

Digging hard grooves out of spindly, spare arrangements, this batch of tunes is responsible for getting more genteel, bearded, indie-rockers onto their feet than a “FREE BEER” bar sign might. Garbus uses her unusual, gymnastic voice as an instrument, her twitters, chirps and bold howls looped along with drum and percussion parts, and layered in West African-flavored polyrhythms (Garbus has lived in Kenya, where she taught singing). “My Country” opens Whokill with a vibrant explosion of colorful sounds, the hollow whomp of a floor tom and a surprise, metallic cartwheel of a keyboard note joined by (surprise again) freewheeling saxophones. The ukulele that was so ubiquitous on her Bird Brains debut only makes scattered appearances here; Whokill serves up exuberant, white-hot energy, pouring forth from jazzy horns and bass, clattering percussion, and brick-hard rhythms ... not to mention, of course, Garbus’ show-stopping vocals. The improved production here may put some people off, but we think it only adds to the power of the music, and the urge to dance. What are you waiting for?