04.20.11 home | north bay bohemian index | music & nightlife | band review Photograph by Anna Campbell WINK: Merrill Garbus' new album inspires a bit of ill-advised verse. ## gOoD-bAiT Meditation on a theme by tUnE-yArDs By Gabe Meline Hills need not be high Boiling water need not be hot Old cars require no oil and Old flames require no drunk texts For the new tUnE-yArDs record is out And it is hella awesome I have heard raccoons fall out of trees Heard an El Camino mangling a pole Creaky drawbridges in Rome Roaring sports crowds Montana thunderstorms A baby's first breath But nothing like this new tUnE-yArDs record Which is hella awesome She lives in Oakland, they say Let's guess: Temescal Used to be porn theaters Hot dog stands, robberies Now Eritrean restaurants and Purple corduroys and Yoga studios Truth is, guess could be off Guesses about tUnE-yArDs Are bound to miserably fail Any descriptions, likewise Ginsu knives, taken to tape Nina Simone and King Sunny Ade James Jamerson and Lee "Scratch" Perry Blender turned on "pulse" Singing—high Singing—low Floppy sloppy bass drum, broken Intentional chops and cuts Every instrument, non-instrument They say she is Merrill Garbus I tell them to stop there Taint not the sweet syrup of discovery with Facts, briny facts I am not reading about her on the internet I am turning the record over again and again and again You do not want to play this record w h o k i l l For your friends playing Words Withª Or straggling from bars pining for Bon Scott After out on the mack You want to lay flat on the hardwood floor Awash in its Fierce, rotund creativity You want to write poetry even though You can't because You don't know shit about poetry Ukulele + Drums + Loops S O U L Human urgency for sound Lyrics = Amazing Lyrics = Ridiculous It's all the same in 2011 tUnE-yArDs plays Tuesday, April 26, at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. 'w h o k i l l' is in stores this week. Send a letter to the editor about this story.