Garbus's music draws from an eclectic variety of sources and uses elements such as loop pedals, ukulele, vocals, and lo-fi percussion.

[3] The album Nikki Nack was released in 2014, with its first single, "Water Fountain", being picked up by Google Pixel in 2016 for an advertising campaign.

She was a puppeteer for the Sandglass Theater in Vermont[6] and lived in Montreal where she played ukulele in the band Sister Suvi with guitarist Patrick Gregoire and drummer Nico Dann.

[7][8] Merrill's sister Ruth Garbus is also a musician who has played solo and in the band Happy Birthday.

The autumn 2009 pressing was remastered at Abbey Road Studios by Christian Wright, and includes two new bonus tracks: "Want Me To" and "Real Live Flesh."

Comparing the act to Sonic Youth, Frontier Psychiatrist said, "if Bird-Brains was Garbus' Evol, a record bursting with musical ideas that attempted to subvert the notion of song, who kill is Garbus' Sister, a record that embraces the traditional pop song as a vehicle to convey those ideas.

[21] In early 2012, the Village Voice's annual "Pazz and Jop" poll of critics named Whokill the No.

[24] The album spawned three singles, including "Water Fountain", which was featured in the soundtrack for EA Sports video game FIFA 15[25] as well as in a 2016 commercial for the Google Pixel.