Review: Tilly and the Wall

I was worried about reviewing this album.
I was expecting them to ply a trade in the sort of saccharine melancholy that makes Bright Eyes so eminently punchable.
After all, the Nebraskans are his label-
mates, and their last two albums have been the sort of gentle tweeness that only Belle and Sebastian could equal.
‘Tall Tall Grass’ seems to confirm my fears. It’s perfectly lovely, with these charming harmonies and Mid-Western diction, but about as interesting as a carpet-
shop. Then in comes a guitar-break that sounds as though the instrument’s about to shatter at any second, and you realise how much else is going on here.

‘Too Excited’ drives that point home. It’s a riot of a song, with every musician racing each other to the delighted ‘fuck you!’ of the chorus. ‘Pot Kettle Black’ is a future classic, marrying the crunch and grind of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to the sort of chorus that would have Le Tigre fearing
for their careers. Other entertaining bits include ‘Cacophony’ and ‘Alligator’, which reveal Tilly and the Wall to be every
bit as competent purveyors of collective
musical chaos. Think Architecture In Helsinki with percussive footwear and you’re about right.
Yes, that is the elephant in the room. They don’t just have a drummer. They have a tap-dancer. Now, on the aforementioned
miracle that is ‘Pot Kettle Black’ you can pretend to yourself that it works. But by the time the chorus of ‘Chandelier Lake’ begins to soar away from its portentous
verse, you do long for something a bit more majestic. Clearly they’re reaching for the same emotional register as Broken Social Scene, but sadly it’s not going to work unless they give that berk a drumkit. ‘Dust Me Off’ could have been a warm and fuzzy, Grandaddyish melody-fest – except for the fact that it sounds like a bunch of Billy Barry kids are having a dance-off in the next room. Still, though, even that idiosyncrasy has its redeeming moments, sounding fantastic on the gypsy jaunt of ‘Poor Man’s Ice Cream’.

A decent listen, then, but not a life-changer. A bit more quality control, a little less tap-dancing – and we could be onto a winner.