Tilly and the Wall, Album Review
Omaha Independent Music
Tilly and the Wall is particularly noted for having a tap dancer, Jamie Pressnall, instead of a drummer. They share more than just a title with a children’s book, their sound and style along with entertaining productions make them indie-pop icons.
Their first release, Woo!, was recorded in band member’s Conor Oberst's garage, was self-published, and distributed around shows in the Omaha area, embodying the essence of independent spirit. Each member of the band contributes to both the album artwork and the writing of song melodies and lyrics.
They grew out of garages and local clubs, having debuted at the now defunct Ranch Bowl, alongside other Omaha underground bands, Tilly and the Wall cultivate an image as the creative kids in class, constantly reinventing themselves and creating worlds within their songs like children creating games and identities.
Each album they’ve recorded is like a children’s book in itself, with drawings in vivid colors, along with their own homemade artwork splashed on each page of their CD jackets. Their lyrics, however, illustrate the pain of growing up and the lessons learned as children become adults.
Tilly and the Wall: "Wild Like Children."
Wild Like Children garnered the band a substantial amount of critical acclaim and propelled them to national tours. Tilly and the Wall’s image as grown up kids with real world experience is evident in their lyrics such as the ones found in Fell Down the Stairs: “For two drunk kids trying to figure out which way was home, they got lost as they were taking off each other’s clothes.”
Another song from the same album illustrates the pressures of responsiblity as children become adults as sung in You and I Misbehaving: “Because we will be wild like children once the black has veiled the sky…when we are younger oh our hearts are so much bolder the pressure is not as great.”
Tilly and the Wall: "Bottoms of Barrels"
Bottoms of Barrels, the band's follow-up to Wild Like Children was released on May 23, 2006. A number of live dates were played to support the album. This album expresses the brutality of growing up and the harshness of the real world and the painful experiences that wait there.
The song Lost Girls is a song about the things you lose as you grow older: “In a world too unreal to behold, Your innocence has faded, Faded all your blues to grey your skin has bruised through moving days.”
Tilly and the Wall: “O”
O is the band’s “black” album, released in the fall of 2008. This album addresses the hypocrisy of being adults: Pot Kettle Black is a song about the way people talk behind each other’s backs, and how no one is free from gossip: “Pot kettle, pot kettle black/Talk that, talk that smack.”
In early 2005, Tilly and the Wall became the first "band in residence" at Omaha's Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. This indie pop band definitely has enough creative spirit to keep producing their grown up sound for some time to come.
Their newest album, O, is now available anywhere music is sold.
Tilly and the Wall
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