Illuminati Hotties: Tiny Desk Concert

Illuminati Hotties: Tiny Desk Concert with tags npr, npr music, national public radio, live, performance, tiny desk, tiny desk concert, tony desk, tiny concert

Lars Gotrich | April 14, 2025

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

#tinydesk #nprmusic #illuminatihotties