Tilly & The Wall : O

<img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/tillyandthewallo.jpg" alt=" " />Tilly & The Wall tap dance their way through some groovy girl-group rhythms on their latest, <em>O</em>....
7.2 Team Love
2008 

  The Omaha, Nebraska act is usually known for two things: their close relationship with Conor Oberst (Tilly’s 2004 debut full-length, Wild Like Children, was the first release on Oberst’s Team Love label, two members came from Oberst’s old band, Park Ave., and keyboardist Nick White still regularly contributes to Oberst’s work as Bright Eyes), and that, instead of a drummer, Tilly has a tap dancer, Jamie Presnall.  But the band has more and more emerged from that shadow and made a name for themselves, and O adds to that.

Not terribly different from their last, 2006’s Bottom of Barrels, O marries a catchy up-tempo beat to girl-group singing styles (even when guitarist Derek Presnall – Jamie’s husband – is contributing on vocals).  The record starts fairly well with “Tall Tall Grass”, but the flowing, stripped guitar & vox piece isn’t really representative of the album.  Better in that and in quality is the following “Pot Kettle Black”, a girl-group garage-rock shout-out.  Tilly hits a similarly strong garage note with finisher “Too Excited” (which starts with a great tap dance solo).  Other top pieces include the catchy “Dust Me Off”, which features neat, cheesy-tech synth, and stand-out “Jumbler”, the most winning upbeat girl-group fun on the record.

With a unique approach, Tilly do kind of repeat themselves, not just record-to-record, but song-to-song.  “Cacophony” is more pressing (with nice horns), but “I Found You” isn’t remarkable enough, with just hints of orchestra and dance hall.  “Chandelier” might be a bit bigger and more emotional, but isn’t really remarkable.  Sing-a-long anthem “Poor Man’s Ice Cream” has some impetus and certainly harmony, but the preceding “Blood Flowers” features only not that interesting lo-fi effects.

While probably not likely to vaunt them to any new fans the way Barrels did (which got them on Letterman…), O is still sure to make current fans happy.  Like other one-of-a-kind acts such as Clinic (QRO interview), the latest record is just keeping with a trend that only Tilly & The Wall know.

MP3 Stream: "Jumbler"

{audio}/mp3/files/Tilly and the Wall – Tumbler.mp3{/audio}

– Anna Vesely
[email protected]

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