Tilly and the Wall, whose Wild Like Children was the first record released on Conor Oberst’s Team Love label, have a new record out for 2006. Bottom of Barrels took a while to percolate into my brain but is now pretty firmly ensconced as one of the best albums I’ve heard in the last few months.
And seriously, how adorable are they?
This is the song that got me hooked on them. It made its way onto my most recent mix and I’ve been listening to it pretty obsessively for the last month or two. It is the story of a boy who can’t seem to right his ship, but the tone of the song (bright and bubbly electronic-folk) keeps things from falling too far. And ultimately the message is a hopeful one: “open your mouth / scream it out loud / forget all your doubt / you are the freest man.” There is clearly a lot of emotion here, but it never feels overwrought. And despite a message that doesn’t really address the sophisticated nature of substance abuse, it doesn’t really feel silly – just earnest and honest.
This song embodies a number of characteristics that make Tilly and the Wall great. The percussion is primarily tap dancing (no joke), the vocals are heartfelt but not overly maudlin, and the tone shifts just a bit when the curtain is lifted with about a minute to go and they give themselves some space to really move about. It’s close to a ballad, but they’ve simply got too much energy to leave it at that.
You can hear more MP3s from the album page for Bottom of Barrels at the Team Love site. Other ones worth checking out include the gorgeous “Rainbow in the Dark,” the flamenco-inspired “Bad Education,” and “Black and Blue,” about that feeling when everything seems just right and nothing could ever go wrong.
Also, according to Pitchfork the new Nellie McKay album is scheduled for release on Halloween. And they have a link to a video for “Real Life” which is worth checking out.