This review is a week late because last week all I could write was, “it was great, it was great, it was great great great.”. Passing it on to my brainy flat-mate for proof-reading, I was met with the concerned stare of someone who’s just seen an animal knocked by a car, and knows he has to end its suffering with a hockey stick.
“Might want to give it some distance.” he said.
So I did. I thought about it for a long time, with a great deal of care and now I can absolutely confirm that my original prognosis was indeed correct. Last week, the coldest, greyest, most miserable week of this winter past, Tilly and the Wall literally cured my S.A.D. in one raucous swoop. It’s an easy formula; Tuesday morning – everything bad, world out to get me, want to sleep forever. Wednesday morning – wake up singing, want to take world to lunch, want to invite Tilly and the Wall into my hot water bottle and rub my cheek against it like a mother.
Why? You may ask. What is so vital about five haphazard, slightly shambolic indie kids from wintry Omaha? What’s so special about five cheeky smiles and a couple of outbursts of “thank y’alls for coming"?
It’s simply that I have never seen a band so genuinely happy to be performing to a heaving room of sweat and noise, so intent on spreading their optimism without pretension, to everyone who can listen. It does of course help to have a repertoire of fantastic, country-twinged pop songs dusted with the delicacy of Bright Eyes, the fiery belly of the Arcade Fire, and a sense of enjoyment that exposes The Pipettes for snide, ironic conceptualists that they are. I suppose I better mention that the album, released Team Love in 2004, is produced by Mr. Bright Eyes, and bears his increasingly relevant stamp of approval.
This stretch of Tilly’s UK tour is coming to an end soon, but thanks to Moshi Moshi records they will be returning quicker than you can say “in two months”. By the looks of the sold-out shows towards the end of this last run, word of mouth has already begun working its loose-lipped magic. I won’t let this stop me, however, from urging you to seek, seek, seek out this band as quickly as possible and by any means see them live! Tilly and the Wall are the cheerleaders who ate the team, and in their own words
“We will sing pretty songs about love, fight if that‘s what it takes, and we won’t back down, no we won’t shut our eyes and go to sleep. And we will write all over your walls, and we will dance to no music at all, and we’ll do what it takes to get through to you!”
And I should mention, of course, that the percussionist is a tapdancer. Wow.
