Merrill Nisker

Country of origin:

Canada

Type of music generally:

Experimental rock

Status:

Only release as Merrill Nisker, fancypants hoodlum (1995). Apparently is now recording as Peaches

See also:

Wikipedia's entry on Merrill Nisker/Peaches

The Ectophiles' Guide's eventual entry for Peaches

Comparisons:

A more artsy, less melodic Sara Craig

Covers/own material:

Mostly own, some cowriting, some covers

General comments:

Merrill Nisker is a female vocalist based in or around Toronto. The vocals are strong and diverse with high clear melodic parts, some hard rock parts, and a bit of screaming. She has a fairly wide range—in both pitch and tone quality.
     The music is rockish, a bit experimental (start/stop, quick tempo and mood changes, some seemingly atonal bits), and generally interesting. It's been growing on me over a few listenings—a good sign. It's not for easy listening, though.
     I hear some similarities to Sara Craig, although I find Sara's music to be generally more tuneful and Merrill's more 'artsy'.
     The cd contains 10 original tunes, plus covers of "High School Confidential" and "Kung Fu Fighting".
     I first heard of Merrill about 6 months ago when a single tune (which is not on this album) by the BAND Fancypants Hoodlum appeared on a sampler cd that comes with Impact magazine. I liked the tune and set about trying to find out more.
     Apparently, the band split up—after recording the album—when two of the members moved away. Exactly how the band's album became Merrill's debut album is not entirely clear. 5 of the songs are by Merrill Nisker, 5 more are by Merrill Nisker and Ian Sinclair. The other 2 are covers. (art@cs.sfu.ca)

Chaotic art-rock. Nice cover of "Kung Fu Fighting". She was better than she is now as Peaches trying to be the indie Li'l Kim. (stjarnell@yahoo.com)

Recommended first album:

fancypants hoodlum is her sole release under this name

Recordings:

fancypants hoodlum (19950

fancypants hoodlum

Release info:

1995

Availability:

Out of print

Ecto priority:

Recommended for fans of experimental rock

Group members:

Merrill Nisker—vocals

Guest artists:

John Gzowski—guitars
harvey Danger—drums
Ian Sinclair—bass, and backing vocals on 1 track

Produced by:

Jim English, John Gzowski, Merrill Nisker

Comments:

See general comments above.