Tilly and the Wall

Tilly and The Wall that band that features a tap dancer rather then a drummer. They released O on June 22nd and I recently had the opportunity of checking it out.

I wasn’t sure what to expect. They released two promotional singles to bloggers Cacophony and Pot Kettle Black were decent songs but they didn’t exactly fit into my tastes but it didn’t make it bad.

I really enjoyed this album. They took a lot of chances by going through many different styles and almost going the route of folk and even at times have an accordion. Attitude wise, Tilly and the Wall weren’t afraid to hold back, occasionally dropping the F bomb but beautifully. You can really feel the raw emotion being conveyed.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5.
Great album that kind of going under the radar.

I didn’t have any time to review the album in its entirety but it’s a joy. Trust me! Gotta run!

Update: Just got home from a weekend out of town.

The first track that really won me over by Tilly and the Wall was “Beat Control” but from reading various comments and checking out other songs here and there and no songs really captivated me.

I thought the tap dancing actually held them back at times before listening to “O”. That changed a lot because they were actually able to create different sounds and a different beat regardless of those limitations.

Another thing I liked about this album was the differences in sound. Tall Tall Grass which was my favorite track is a slow starter then it kicks it off with a powerful/angry Pot Kettle Black and then more straight forward pop in Cacophony.

Despite being pop there are a lot of risk taking involved, multiple instruments and thus made it a great joy to listen to even if at times I just wish they had real drumming instead of the tap dancing (sure it’s a great novelty and one that they will be remembered for but I just have to think they could be great by being “standard”).

Still a wonderful album, even if I tend to “overrate” indie pop albums, Tilly and The Wall just make it hard for me to be tough on them.

Tall Tall Grass by Tilly and the Wall

Chandelier Lake by Tilly and the Wall

I’ve known about Tilly and the Wall for sometime but I’ve never actually listened to anything by them. I knew from going through countless Wikipedia articles and they were namely that band that did not have a drummer but a tap dancer instead. Always figured that was odd/super cool.

Tilly and The Wall are a quite popular indie pop group and I just never bothered to check out their stuff until recently. If you follow my tendencies I love indie pop and I love female lead singers… so why I didn’t check this band out is way beyond me.

They have a 3rd album coming out on June 17th and while it’s currently untitled, it’s being given the working name of “O” but with the given press release, the promotional company refused to confirm the title of the album. They have made “Cacophony” available for download on various blogs which you can find almost anywhere. Their previous two albums got very good reviews from All Music Guide and P4K.

Cacophony is a decent track though nothing special to a point where I wouldn’t be too excited. Some good elements with the tap dancing though I swear it sounds like horse or…something left to the imagination. I like the duality of male and female vocals. I’ll be definitely checking out “O” or whatever it calls when it comes out in June.

I wanted to talk about the short pop track Beat Control which was left off this album. Some were saying that it was different stylistically but it is an extremely fun and awesome pop song (some may hate it for being too poppy). I love the vocals and while it’s rather simplistic of a song lyrically and instrumentally, it’s extremely catchy and I don’t mind listening to it for hours.

The video has also gotten some major play on YouTube with their music video…though most of the traffic originates from Perez Hilton. I’m not against his music selections but it only works because he does have such high traffic levels and therefore a power to persuade. Here’s the video: