Song Bank: Tilly and The Wall – Alligator Skin
I love it when artists think out of the box when making music. Innovation is cool, but innovation that really makes you rethink established conventions is the best kind, in my opinion. It’s the reason why I would fall in love with bands like Morphine or Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. They’ve turned music on its ear not just with a new sound but all new band configurations that I wouldn’t even imagine.
That’s the very reason why Tilly and The Wall entered my radar. The awesome indie pop group brings together some of the elements that I dig — catchy yet simple melodies, an awesome chorus, girl singers and an infectious rhythm. Tilly and The Wall has all of these, with one notable absence in their band — a drummer. Yes, Tilly and The Wall has decided to forego using a drummer to mark its rhythms, and instead has made a tap dancer their official percussionist. You might think that a) the band must suck, and b) it’s obviously a gimmick. The tap dancer idea may indeed be a gimmick but one listen to their songs and you’ll definitely realize that they don’t suck — in fact, they are wonderful. Their music has a whimsy that you rarely see in music (except of course, if you love listening to twee pop where whimsy is a required ingredient) and the human rhythms of Jamie Presnall, Tilly’s tap dancer, are quite infectious.
To prove how cool they are, here’s Alligator Skin from their 2008 album, O.
