Posted on: July 25, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 1

After four years, it feels like Conor Oberst’s label Team Love has came full circle. The first release on the Team Love label was Tilly and the Wall’s “Wild Like Children”, and at this moment, “o” is the current release that they are pandering. Tilly and the Wall’s “o” is their third full-length release, set on the same 2 year publishing schedule that “Wild Like Children” and “Bottoms of Barrels” had. The first track on “o” is “Tall Tall Grass”, and it provides listeners with a sedate track that is little more than vocals and acoustic guitar. The track benefits from a challenging time signature put forth by the aforementioned vocals, upping listeners’ expectations for “Pot Kettle Black”.

“Pot Kettle Black” marks the band’s first single on “o”, and it begins with a retro rock style that links together the early British Invasion bands with a grungier, seventies type of hard rock approach. The angular arrangements of the guitars during “Pot Kettle Black” provide something firm and substantive that the echoing and fuzzy vocals can work off of: the track will easily insert itself into listeners’ minds and not let go. “Cacophony” has a lighter, more Mamas and Papas-type of sound to it, riding on a wave of martial drums, Spanish horns, and twinkling pianos. While not immediately as approachable as “Pot Kettle Black”, “Cacophony” has a much more intricate and dense style to it that listeners will undoubtedly unravel after countless listens to “o”.

“Falling Without Knowing” is an intense track, bringing forth a bed of synthesizers that goes beyond the work of acts like The Killers to create a track that could easily be a hit back when mTV still played videos and the New Wave genre was at its full force. The power of the track would easily bring “Falling Without Knowing” back up to the top of the alternative tracks and provide a possibility for Tilly and the Wall to cross over. Aside from the bonus track (“Heartbeats”), “o” ends with the equally high-energy “Too Excited”. The track links together Tony Basil with the X-Ray Spex to create a clapping, “fuck you” type of track that will be easily eaten up by fans of all genres of music. “o” is a disc that bounces through genres with countless approaches taken and instruments used: with energy abound, Tilly and the Wall do not disappoint. Pick it up.

Top Tracks: Alligator Skin, Too Excited

Rating: 8.0/10

Tilly and the Wall – o / 2008 Team Love / 11 Tracks / http://www.tillyandthewall.com /
http://www.team-love.com /

1 people reacted on this

  1. This is a fine CD. I got a copy after I read this and it’s diversity only mirros its complexity. It’s lifelike, if that makes sense. I haven’t gotten to the place where I start excluding things or really judging so all I can say is this quite good. Thank you for the heads up.

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