Illuminati Hotties: Tiny Desk Concert

It's really hard for us to say no to a confetti cannon. They're so loud and unexpected! And make our messy Tiny Desk even messier! When used correctly, it adds an exclamation point to just the right note; rest assured, Illuminati Hotties punctuates this Tiny Desk with a burst of color… and, yes, an actual confetti cannon.

Illuminati Hotties' punky indie-rock songs are silly, sophisticated and scrappy — Sarah Tudzin affectionately calls this music "tenderpunk." There's always a catchy hook underpinned by a sweetly devastating lyric, or a clever turn of phrase subverted by some stank-faced skronk. Tudzin, who leads Illuminati Hotties, elevates the band's sound design through her job as a recording engineer and producer. If you've listened to recent albums by Speedy Ortiz, Weyes Blood and boygenius and wondered how they sound so good, Tudzin is part of the reason why.

Tudzin and her band hop, skip and jump through the Illuminati Hotties catalog, rearranging her songs along the way. "Pool Hopping" features a 10-second ska riff. Free I.H. mixtape favorite "freequent letdown" gets a little twang singalong. POWER's "Didn't," originally a Weezer-indebted rocker, becomes a banjo-led hoedown. It all speaks to the malleability of Tudzin's songwriting. "We're here to share joy. We're here to inspire resistance," Tudzin says in a mission statement before the satirical and sneering "MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA," which gets a pointed last-minute lyric change of its own. "That's the least we can do with our art."

SET LIST

• "Can't Be Still"
• "Pool Hopping"
• "freequent letdown"
• "MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA"
• "Didn't"

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