MUSIC REVIEW: Tilly and the Wall, O

Tilly and the Wall
O
(Team Love)

By Cristina Black

Indie-pop is all about, well, independent spirit, and judged purely on their barely-tempered exuberance, Tilly and the Wall set the genre’s gold standard. The Omaha oddball band emerged on Conor Oberst’s label a few years ago with gobs of sunny harmonies, a tap dancer for a drummer, and loads of grammar school-kid enthusiasm. High profile tours may have helped the quintet’s charmingly naïve perspective mature, but nothing has dampened their spirit. The new album—technically untitled but known as “O” because of the circular space on the cover, which will boast a variety of fan-submitted artwork—has their signature youthful light touch, but with even stronger songwriting. Opener “Tall Tall Grass” draws you in with the sweetest, most hummable melody before songs like “Pot Kettle Black” up the ante with cheerleader vocals. A study in bright-textured sound, the album hinges on carnival-esque tack piano, hand claps and clanging pots and pans until the whole thing culminates in a breathless song called “Too Excited.” As if we couldn’t tell from the caffeinated tap-dancing in the intro.