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Review: Tilly & the Wall at Emo’s
Tilly & the Wall shows are like being invited to a children’s birthday party; there are balloons, streamers, and lots of songs with clapping. The Omaha, Neb., fivesome’s exuberant stage show Thursday at Emo’s was missing only the cake.
Tilly’s tendency to fall into semi-saccharine nostalgia — a lot of the set featured the-kids-are-all-right anthems like “Let Us Be Free” — was saved from hokiness by impressive musicianship. Singers Kianna Alarid and Neely Jo Jenkins bring big, brassy voices to bolster the band’s child-like ballads. The combination of Nick White on synthesizer and Derek Pressnall’s acoustic guitar make for interesting dissonance. And I know how indier-than-thou it sounds, but Jamie Pressnall, whose tap-dancing provides a lot of the band’s percussion, is seriously impressive.
Amid the flower garlands wrapped around microphones, glow-in-the-dark mini-dresses and sometimes-choreography, it can be hard to remember how much range this band has. They can do perfect pop, like the dance-party single “Beat Control” whose sing-song vocals and straightforward back-beat whiffed of the Jackson 5. They can do lively laments with layers of synth and flamenco taps, like “Rainbows in the Dark.” In “Pot Kettle Black” their sound was more urgent, much harsher than their usual happy-go-lucky choruses.
More than anything, Tilly’s energy and enthusiasm are infectious. True, cheesy folk ballads like “Tall Grass’s” attempts at haunting loss felt affected, and some of the pleasant-pop got monotonous. But at the end of the day, a grinning Jamie Pressnall tap-danced for an hour straight, and her bandmates projected an ABBA-like joy without making anyone listen to “Dancing Queen.” The finale, a huge sing-a-long to “Nights of the Living Dead,” got the crowd screaming promises to “bring that (expletive) noise.” They’d do anything for this charismatic fivesome.
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Permalink | Comments (5) | Categories: In The Clubs, Music, Reviews
Comments
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By dinod
July 18, 2008 10:41 PM | Link to this
Um, these guys are from nebraska, not ohio. what kind of crappy reporting is this?
By rich
July 20, 2008 2:03 PM | Link to this
I know everyone from the Midwest looks alike, but Tilly is from Omaha, Nebraska, not Ohio.
By nina
July 29, 2008 3:28 PM | Link to this
Yeah, not from Ohio, and not a “foursome.” You even listed all five members!
By Sharon Chapman
July 29, 2008 4:39 PM | Link to this
Of course, you are right, posters. We’ve fixed our Tilly mistakes.
By statewaterheatersa
August 13, 2008 4:26 PM | Link to this
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