The start of Tilly & The Wall’s fourth album arrives with a kaleidoscope of sounds, and for a band who don’t have a drummer it makes a lot of noise. Listen to it while staring at the crazy abstract cover art and you’d be forgiven for seeing eyes blinking and mouths opening in rhythm. ‘Love Riot’ has a dash of Yeah Yeah Yeahs to it, and it’s a new sound for a band that has found such a solid fan base for its quirky tap-dancing-for-percussion indie-pop.
For fans of the Nebraskan band, it’s unfamiliar territory, but the titular track that follows is just as upbeat, with the sort of dominant riff that Franz Ferdinand would be happy with. There’s a new energy to the band, ‘we’ve got muscle, we are tough,’ sings Derek Pressnall, and you get the sense he means it. With a simple repetitive chorus it’s a song made for daytime radio and may just get the band the platform they’ve long deserved.
But that’s where this new pounding sound ends and swagger vanishes. ‘All Kinds of Guns’ is a beautifully dirty 50s pop ditty sung by Kianna Alarid. It’s completely unexpected and throws the rhythm of the album out of kilter a little, which is a shame as it’s a strong track in its own right. It opens ‘Heavy Mood’ up to a more familiar Tilly too. The pace fluctuates through the rest of the 37-minute running time, with melodies wrapped tightly around the consistently successful rhythm section.
It becomes less confrontational and more introspective in the second half: “will we ever get home again, can be ever get back to what we had?” asks Alarid on ‘I Believe in You’ which builds slowly into a huge chorus of self-belief and reaffirmation.
Tilly & The Wall may have learned to rock but they’re clutching roses in clenched fists. Even within the thematic confusion of a band settling into life with spouses and children ‘Heavy Mood’ is worth fighting for. “We’re not afraid to live, and we’re not afraid to die,” sings Alarid with a kids choir on closer ‘Defenders’, summing up the band’s approach to both life and their music.
Released on November 5th through Team Love.
Posted by Kev Scott.
