Tilly And The Wall’s new album has more promiscuous percussion than any work in recent memory. Beats and breaks somersault out of the shadows, cymbals fall from the rafters and staccato-like tap-dancing stitches through each number with melodic precision. Produced by Mike Mogis (Cursive, Lullaby For The Working Class), the band’s third long player is an exhilaratingly theatrical blend of New Wave battle-marches and a production of an off-Broadway indie rock Stomp. Led by singers Neely Jenkins and Kianna Alarid, this Omaha quartet are one of the most musically innovative outfits around; the two women wrap their vocals around each other with the same symbiotic sisterly harmonies as Tegan And Sara, while tap-dancer Jamie Pressnall keeps time on the hardwood. Recorded at the Bemist Center For The Contemporary Arts In Omaha, O is a rousing effort that in its thirty-two minutes manages not so much a wall of sound as a great big rolling floor of sound that ripples and surges and never lets up. “Pot Kettle Black” has all the nasty whip of Last Splash-era Breeders; “Cacophony” is a euphonious wonder that’s highlighted by steady body percussion and “Chandelier Lake” is a mellifluous and wistful number. Later, the harmonies of “Blood Flowers” make it sound like a lost classic from the ‘60s; “Poor Man’s Ice Cream” has all the giddy pop thrills of the New Pornographers and the album closer “Too Excited” which starts with a solo tap clinic by Pressnall, turns into a rueful punk number. When Jenkins and Alrarid promise on the latter, “I’m gonna burn this motherfucking party down,” they sound like a deliciously feral version of the B-52’s. This might very well be the album of the year.
--Alex Green [June 16, 2008]
