Tiny Desk Live performance : NPR

It is actually onerous for us to say no to a confetti cannon. They’re so loud and surprising! And make our messy Tiny Desk even messier! When used appropriately, it provides an exclamation level to simply the correct observe; relaxation assured, Illuminati Hotties punctuates this Tiny Desk with a burst of colour… and, sure, an precise confetti cannon.

Illuminati Hotties’ punky indie-rock songs are foolish, refined and scrappy — Sarah Tudzin affectionately calls this music “tenderpunk.” There’s all the time a catchy hook underpinned by a sweetly devastating lyric, or a intelligent flip of phrase subverted by some stank-faced skronk. Tudzin, who leads Illuminati Hotties, elevates the band’s sound design by way of her job as a recording engineer and producer. If you happen to’ve listened to current albums by Speedy Ortiz, Weyes Blood and boygenius and questioned how they sound so good, Tudzin is a part of the rationale why.

Tudzin and her band hop, skip and leap by way of the Illuminati Hotties catalog, rearranging her songs alongside the way in which. “Pool Hopping” contains a 10-second ska riff. Free I.H. mixtape favourite “freequent letdown” will get a bit of twang singalong. POWER‘s “Did not,” initially a Weezer-indebted rocker, turns into a banjo-led hoedown. All of it speaks to the malleability of Tudzin’s songwriting. “We’re right here to share pleasure. We’re right here to encourage resistance,” Tudzin says in a mission assertion earlier than the satirical and sneering “MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA,” which will get a pointed last-minute lyric change of its personal. “That is the least we will do with our artwork.”

SET LIST

• “Cannot Be Nonetheless”
• “Pool Hopping”
• “freequent letdown”
• “MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA”
• “Did not”

MUSICIANS

• Sarah Tudzin: vocals, keys, percussion
• Brian Robert Jones: guitar, banjo, music director, background vocals
• Jake Noveck: guitar, background vocals
• Mal Hauser: guitar, background vocals
• Zach Bilson: bass, background vocals
• Brendan Philip McCusker: drums 

TINY DESK TEAM

• Producer: Lars Gotrich
• Director/Editor: Kara Body
• Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
• Host/Collection Producer: Bobby Carter
• Videographers: Kara Body, Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant
• Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai
• Manufacturing Assistants: Ashley Pointer, Dora Levite
• Photographer: Zayrha Rodriguez
• Tiny Desk Copy Editor: Hazel Cills
• Government Producer: Suraya Mohamed
• Collection Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
• VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins