Tilly And The Wall

Bottoms Of Barrels

[4/5] On their second album for the imprint run by Bright Eyes mainman Conor Oberst, this idiosyncratic Omaha, Nebraska, quintet casually craft efficient co-ed indie pop that, even though tap dancer Jamie Williams is Tilly And The Wall’s key percussionist (and selling point), sounds fully formed instrumentally. This time, Tilly arrive with xylophone, keyboards and screaming vocals in tow, and pack Bottoms Of Barrels’ songs to the hilt with urgent, how-many-syllables-can-we-fit-into-this-phrase vocal performances. This is a literal bunch: “Urgency” oozes with, well, urgency; “Love Song” is a sweetly percussion-less, um, love song; and “Coughing Colors,” with its carefully honed grand-piano sweeps, hopefully shouldn’t inspire any cigarette-hacking fits. Williams still gives Tilly’s songs an extra kick (okay, easy pun), although the band may want to think about adding some cymbals on their next go-’round. Still, despite Williams’ ample skills and steady feet, Tilly And The Wall are limited by their ability to operate on only two dynamics: heavy and percussive, or lilting and sweet. That said, any attempt to deny the opening command in “Black And Blue” (i.e., “When you hear that song, you will dance”) while clap-following Williams feet is completely futile. Don’t hold back; tap along. (TEAM LOVE)




Rock’s Like:

The New Pornographers’ Electric Version • Bright Eyes’ Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground • Gregory Hines’ Gregory Hines




IN-STORE SESSION With With Tilly And The Wall




Does it bother you that people focus so much on the tap dancing aspect of your band?


Derek Pressnall (vocals, guitar): With this new record, people are more focused on the actual songs–not that they weren’t before, but they used to be like, “How do the taps relate to the songs?”


Jamie Williams (tap dancing): It was good because it sparked people’s interest, but it’s nice that it’s progressing from that point, too.




Do you see a major change in what’s coming out of you on the second record?


Pressnall: I think the second record is more us looking out at the world; it’s more external. The first record [2004’s Wild Like Children] was more us looking within ourselves. [That] album had a lot more to do with personal conflicts; this one has more to do with our environment and the world we live in. I feel like it’s a snapshot.


Kianna Alarid (vocals, shakers, tambourine, recorder): We’ve also gotten a lot more comfortable writing songs with each other. It’s become really second nature for us. Our sound: We get it now. We know how to write for our own band.




A lot of the songs on this record sound like major group efforts. How did the writing process flow this time?


Alarid: They come from one person’s soul, and they’re one person’s song–but it’s all of our songs, as well.


Alarid: We know each other so well that, usually, if someone’s like, “I have this idea,” then the other person’s like, “Awesome.” It becomes everybody’s song.


Williams: “Rainbows In The Dark,” the first song on the album, it took us two months to write that till it was actually finished. It was version after version after version. That’s an example of a major group effort.


Alarid: And “Brave Day”–we’d be [playing it] onstage, like, “We’ve got to liven things up!”


Neely Jenkins (vocals, shakers, bells): It’s a good working environment, because you can do anything at any time, and you’ll be supported.




Do you feel like there’s more of a challenge having multiple songwriters?


Nick White (keyboards): The advantages far outweigh the negative aspects of having multiple songwriters. The sense of collaboration and collection–I personally feel that having everyone write is such a nice feeling as a group.


Jamie: Another group of people could have a really hard time with it. We’re just so into each other that we love what everybody brings.


Pressnall: If the lead singer of Brian Jonestown Massacre were here right now, we would not be having this discussion. [All laugh.]
–Jeff Miller