Tilly and the WallIt might seem easy to dismiss Tilly and the Wall as a novelty act if you haven't been lucky enough to hear—or see—the Omaha-based group. The band is made up of vocalists Neely Jenkins and Kianna Alarid, guitarist/vocalist Derek Pressnall and keyboardist Nick White, as well as Jamie Pressnall, who provides the potential novelty of percussion by tapdancing. But Tilly and the Wall proves again, with its third release, O, that it's no gimmick. What they do works—and works well. The result is a cohesive, pop-infused collection of songs that each have their own distinctive sound, yet flow seamlessly from track to track.
The opening "Tall Tall Grass" features gentle acoustic strumming and the harmonies of Jenkins and Alarid. But the instant guitar feedback makes an entrance, it's evident that Tilly and Wall is full of surprises. One minute, the vocals are channeling Le Tigre in quirky songs like the toe-tapping "Too Excited," while the next there's a hint of ABBA among the space-age sounds of "Falling Without Knowing." With boy-girl, trade-off vocals, "Jumbler" seems like it could easily be part of a '50s musical, but the following "Chandelier Lake" is equal parts folk song and ethereal journey through a meadow of tambourines, accordions and chirping birds.
"Pot Kettle Black" reaches anthem-like proportions, with hand-clapping and stomping, and a few elongated "s" sounds to denote the cattiness with which Jenkins and Alarid sing about gossip: "Talk that, talk that smack. Watch your, watch your back." Appropriately enough, it was recorded in Jenkins' old high school gym, with Jamie in the bleachers and the rest of the band on the floor.
And while "Dust Me Off" discusses depression-induced lethargy, it has an optimistic tone: "Remember to fight off the darkness that creeps in sometimes." Who wouldn't have an air of brightness when accompanied by a tap dancer? It would be great to rent Tilly and the Wall for singing-telegram type snippets of bad news, beautiful harmonies and some tapdancing softening phrases such as "You're not getting a raise," or "I've been seeing someone else." But for Tilly and the Wall, the news is good: O is an ebullient record full of delightfully unexpected twists and unique soundscapes.