Tilly and the Wall
O (Team Love)
It was always hard to tell people they were wrong for writing off Tilly and the Wall based solely on the fact that the lion’s share of the band’s percussion came in the form of Jamie Presnall’s tap-dancing. It was a gimmick that, while mostly unobtrusive, sent their cutesiness level to almost unbearable heights. They’ve started to move beyond all that on O, though, infusing their mostly irresistible indie-pop songs with actual drums, and some suitably squealing electric guitars, which sit surprisingly nicely alongside the multi-part harmonies that would have been the band’s trademark were it not for all the silly tap-dancing. ‘Pot Kettle Black’ will sound far too much like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for T&W purists, but they’ll forget all about it by the next track, ‘Cacaphony’, and really the rest of the record, which is filled with exactly the kind of quirky, glorious pop songs the band’s always been capable of — only now they’re fleshed out to the point of genuine, all-encompassing weirdness rather than a forced, one-note kind of weirdness.
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