When you see Tilly and the Wall live you are blown away by the youthful essence, the complete and utter fun being had on stage, the tap dancing percussion, and the folky beats you can really tap your foot to. Luckily all that translated wonderfully into their first full length studio release. Apparently owing much to Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst and Rilo Kiley (they toured with each and Oberst recorded the disc), this band takes the folky, sometimes angst-y sound very common today and turns it into a party sound that avoids being corny and falls wonderfully into the category of kitsch.
Almost every track contains the spirit of all five core members and many more guests. The adolescence bleeds through the tracks in such a way that the vitality is what you really feel, and not the angst. The best example of angst turned into an energetic tune is “Let It Rain,” a song perfected by the Madonna song lyric opener. The life contained in each track mixed up with the queerness of the sound creates a new generation of young voices that speak for the kids who are “all fucked up” in “Nights of the Living Dead” and the mournful growing up in “I Always Knew.” The “sort of” feelings of love, “kind of” loss, “little bit” of pain, lots of fun, and a lot of going against the norm dominate those and the rest of the tracks, creating an album of fun coming of age for any age.
That fun pervades the musical side of the disc with the quick beats, folk sounds, tap danced percussion, and lots of background noises (including, at one point, broken bottles). The pianos, bells, and guitars are all simple chords, but blended with such life that not one song on the album will bore or drag on. With the mix of high-energy tunes, empowered and fun lyrics, and uniquely youthful folk energy, this disc proves Tilly “won’t shut our eyes and go to sleep.” |