Tilly and the Wall w. No Coast, Crowbar & Co.
The Mill – May 31 at 9:00 p.m.
$12 in advance, $15 day of show (19+)
When Tilly and the Wall arrived on the national stage, the five-piece had already been plugging away quietly in Omaha for some time. Formed in 2001–due in part to the demise of several other Omaha-based bands around the same time, including Conor Oberst’s Park Ave.–their first show took place at an open mic event, and their first album was recorded in Oberst’s garage. That’s pretty indie rock, right?
To the band’s benefit, there are far worse garages to record in than that of Omaha’s most consistent purveyor of critically acclaimed music projects. The regional success of this initial recording soon led the group to record its full length debut, Wild Like Children, which released in 2004 as the flagship album for Oberst’s newly created Team Love record label.
Bolstered by wildly popular tracks like “Night of the Living Dead” and “Fell Down the Stairs,” Wild Like Children became a sort of anthem for young, angst-filled 20-somethings across the country. Sexual ambiguity and chants of “We want to fuck it up!” abound. Amidst glowing reviews, the success of Wild Like Children led Tilly and the Wall to break into the national touring scene, performing alongside notable bands like Of Montreal and Oberst’s Bright Eyes.
Tilly and the Wall have released three full length albums since their full-length debut nearly a decade ago, and the group has undergone some rather significant life changes in the intervening years. Percussionist Jamie Williams married vocalist Derek Pressnall in 2006. They’ve had a couple of children. The group recorded a version of the “ABC song” for Sesame Street. The idea of ‘fucking it up’ and ‘passing out in your lawn’ may not be as appealing as it once was.
After a four year hiatus, however, Tilly and the Wall released Heavy Mood in late 2012, and with a new release comes a new tour. With this latest effort, the group shows that their knack for punchy hooks and incisive lyrics is anything but fleeting.
Fans of Jamie Pressnall’s tap dancing will be pleased to hear that Tilly and the Wall’s aversion to drums and penchant for nontraditional percussion is still one of the their biggest draws (though many songs have her competing with a drum beat, perhaps to the chagrin of you tap dancing purists). Their latest tracks are a bit more chaotic, a bit less folky’ and a bit more muddled, but it’s all by design. The album has a decidedly electric feel to it, but it’s fresh, and it’s fun. And if you peel back the layers just a little, you’ll still find those wild young children we knew in the early ’00s. They’ve just grown up a little in the mean time.
Some outlets have leveled criticism at Tilly and the Wall’s latest effort, claiming that the group has abandoned many of the conventions that made their music so appealing in the first place. “Where are the characters, and what became of those kids passed out on the lawn?” asks Pitchfork.
Nonsense. Tilly and the Wall were early adopters of the clap-your-hands style of folk-pop that has inundated the indie music scene over the last decade, and to expect them to cling to such conventions is, in a word, boring.
2012’s Heavy Mood is anything but boring.
Tilly and the Wall will be performing at The Mill on May 31 alongside No Coast and Crowbar & Co. Tickets for the event are set at $15, though they may be purchased in advance from Midwestix for a reduced price of $12.
