Tilly and the Wall - O

Release Date: 06/17/08
Genre: Indie Pop

This band so happy. Their debut album was excellent. 2nd album was a step below, but it's still better than radio.

Review: Instead of a kickass opener like on their last two albums, the album opens with a closer. Still, I've always been pleased with the female vocalists in Tilly, so it was nice to hear them in their calm state. Second track really kicks things with "Pot Kettle Black." I like the pacing of it and of course, it feels a bit like high school. "Cacophony" is a really fun one too.

"Alligator Skin" and Chandelier Lake" are the album's high point. It has what I love about the band, the youthful summer camp sing-a-long and it sounds fresh. And in both, the vocals are made of breezy love.

I'm not much of a fan of the male vocals in the band, but it works well to contrast the females. There's not much of that here and sometimes I feel that the album lacked the punch that their past albums had. So because of that, ever thought I agree that most of the songs here sound good on their own (minus Bloodflower), some songs have good parts but are stuck with dead parts. Like on "Too Excited," the running verses sound like it'll go somewhere, but it just sounds blah. Then "Falling Without Knowing" had a very memorable chorus, but I didn't like the rest of the song until it came back to the chorus.

Summary: It seems like the band is just recording music because it's fun and that's very reflective in their music. I like that the band has that 'careless' vibe on their music and the runtime barely goes over 30 minutes. While the album feels more tight, i wish it was more wild and free. Still, there are some keepers here.

Key Tracks: Pot Kettle Black, Alligator Skin, Chandelier Lake
Rating: 7