Tilly and The Wall - O
Imagine the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Go! Team and a tap dancer. You’re getting somewhere close to Tilly and the Wall. Who needs a drummer when your percussionist is a tap dancer?
Born through the remains of Omaha bands, some even projects of Bright Eyes’ inimitable Conor Oberst, they signed to Oberst’s Team Love label, and have since toured with the likes of Rilo Kiley and The Go! Team. Their third album, ‘O’, may as well be their first, so little press was given to previous offerings that most assume this is their debut. But it sounds like a debut too, fresh and exciting, yet isn’t the third album supposed to be the more comfortable, settled one?
O is anything but. It blasts from a Yeah Yeah Yeahs stomp to some CSS-electro to The Go! Team soul beats with ease and confidence. They sound out of their depth, yet they seem - dare I say it - comfortable doing everything. The frenetic is laced with melody that soothes the rough edges, whilst keeping the kick. The versatility rubs off on the vocals too, going straight from the beautiful, on acoustic track ‘Tall, Tall Grass’ to the Karen O-like snarl and swagger of ‘Pot Kettle Black’.
Lead single ‘Beat Control’s’ heavy drum machine beat under some northern soul electric organ and a melody that begs to be sung-along to, making you wish the song would never end. Play ‘Beat Control’ in the worst of nightclubs or your indie club, and it will get the same reaction.
The sweeping synths of ‘Falling Without Knowing’ is exactly what Goldfrapp have been struggling to find all these years, yet Tilly and the Wall make it so much cooler while they’re at it. ‘Alligator Skin’ shows they can do Pop if they need to, or maybe even a bit of salsa (‘I Found You’), or some Duke Spirit rock and roll (‘Too Excited’).
Maybe they have found their style and sound, and are just showing off that they can do whatever they want as well. Try skipping a song, I bet you can’t.
Album review by Jack Phillips
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