Just days after Neil Young brought Le Noise to Toronto's venerable Massey Hall, a new kind of sound rattled the rafters at the city's legendary Horseshoe Tavern. With a raucous rebel yell, tUnE-yArDs played to a sold-out room filled with chanting and cheering fans.

Don't let the pretentious caps confusion fool 'ya. Led by Merrill Garbus, tUnE-yArDs is as authentic as they come and delivers one of the most original sounds out there.

The project is the creation of the Oakland, Calif.-based Garbus, a New Englander who grew up idolizing "badass ladies" like Ani Difranco and Cyndi Lauper. She credits the time she spent in Montreal playing with the band Sister Suvi with changing her life.

Garbus left Canada, moved to California and formed tUnE-yArDs in 2009. In fact, Thursday's show wasn't the group's first time in Toronto. She reminisced on-stage about playing a first T.O. gig at The Rivoli, fighting to be heard over constant chatter.

There was no need to shush the crowd Thursday night when Garbus and her three-piece band took the stage. With warpaint on her face and a fuzzy, pink shrug across her shoulders, Garbus charged into battle with the call-and-response track Do You Want To Live? "Do you want to live?" "Yeah!" Add drums, some ukulele, a groovalicious bass and two saxes -- equal parts Morphine and Fela Kuti -- and you have the tribal tUnE-yArDs experience.

Like Imogen Heap or Beardyman, many tUnE-yArDs songs start with Garbus looping her own backing tracks live: stacking yells, yips and drums beats like a game of sonic Jenga. Then, with wide-eyed glee, Garbus joins in -- harmonizing with herself.

But it's not in a precious way; rather, it's much more playful. During one of her numbers, Garbus dropped her drumsticks while recording a loop. The cascading clatter instantly became part of the rhythm, with Garbus and her bassist Nate Brenner sharing a smile at the happy accident.

One of the evening's highlights had to be Gangsta, a standout track from the new tUnE-yArDs album whokill. The saxes blow with a John Zornian wail. A madly marching drumline propels the song forward, accompanied by Garbus' screaming sirens.

Thanks to the music video below, the song Bizness is likely the band's best known number. By the end of the song, Garbus was beaming, telling the crowd how beautiful it looked as waves of jumping bodies bounced around in the narrow bar.

Garbus has said "part of what I love about seeing other musicians play is when they do impossible things and you have to let yourself go to this place where you do magic."

With a yelp and snarl, tUnE-yArDs got to that place Thursday night. Come back soon.

tUnE-yArDs plays Montreal's La Sala Rossa on Friday.