TUNNG

Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce to you:

Tunng.

Who are these people? They’re a group on Full Time Hobby Records (former home of The Hold Steady, current home of Viva Voce), who bill their genre as “folktronica,” which seems as apt a name as any other for this extremely experimental sound. Much of it is electronic: Ambient noise spliced with random people saying (or shouting) things (probably clips from movies or TV shows). But then there’ll be a real song stuck in there, like “It’s Because We’ve Got Hair” from Comments from the Inner Chorus, which has a truly beautiful melody. And sometimes they’ll combine the two, as in “Man in the Box,” throwing a sound collage over a perfectly good song. The combo tunes make for something extraordinary and wildly unique, and their most interesting work. They’ll take a lyrical theme that’s vaguely mythical (like fairy tales or abstract woodland fantasy) and combine it with gentle banjo or
acoustic strumming, making it sound like a traditional folk song, but then jam electronic blips or vibrations over it. “Sweet William” is a great example of this. Old fashioned music done new-fangled.

And then there’s the singular cover: “Pioneers.”

Jenny Again-Tunng. From “Comments from the Inner Chorus.”

Sweet William-Tunng. From “Comments from the Inner Chorus.”

Pioneers (Bloc Party cover)-Tunng. From “The Pioneers EP.”

Mother’s Daughter-Tunng. From “Mother’s Daughter and Other Songs.”

Jenny Again-Tunng (video)