Tilly and the Wall - “O”

Tilly and the Wall has given a whole new meaning to gloriously tripping over your shoe laces and falling into a puddle.  Their new album “O” is a perfect example of what happens when experimentation goes right. The Omaha group blends eighties synth pop, bluesy sensitivity, cocky punk and…river dance? Tilly and the Wall has somehow managed to substitute a drum set with Jaime’s tap dancing. Not only that, but they did it with style and grace (and probably quite a few blisters). Leonardo De Vinci said, “The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art,” and those artworks saturate nearly every song with a cacophony of stomp, heel toe, and shuffle. It creates a certain modern day conquistador magic and makes me believe this entire album could be percussive luster at its finest. From the fast acoustic hooks and the cascading piano to the thirsty voices and crunchy punk guitars, every instrument sweats rhythm and screams, “Let’s play hookie!”

Tilly speaks for the girls who’ve roamed around the proverbial block in red patent leather pumps and the guys who’ve been stranded on the side of the road in the middle of an Arizona desert in a rusted ’76 Malibu. Blisters. Blood. Sweat. Your tires are flat, your car is broken, and you’re flat broke. What else is new? I’ll tell you. We finally have a band that has been able to successfully illustrate our generation’s laborious struggle to stand tall, fresh and bitchy among withering predecessors. Thanks Tilly and the Wall, for reminding me how great it feels not to give a shit.

Tilly and the Wall - Pot Kettle Black

Tilly and the Wall - Cacophony