Tilly & The Wall - 'Beat Control'
2008 is going to go down in musical history as the year in which pop music got what can only be described as a makeunder. Records which, due to their lack of superpolished pop production would not get within sniffing distance of the Top 10 in any other year, suddenly found themselves duking it out with Timbaland and Madonna, and winning.
All anyone seems to care about at the moment is whether songs have got killer tunes in them or not. This is why a left-field folk concern like Noah & The Whale can have a chart smash with a song that is largely performed on a ukulele, and which boasts the normally weedy unique selling point of a special guest appearance by another folk singer.
Think about it, the common thread which links Alphabeat, Klaxons, Scouting For Girls, the Ting Tings, Black Kids, Iglu & Hartley, CSS, MIA, N-Dubz and MGMT (apart from a fondness for day-glo) is that all of their hit songs sound a little bit unfinished, a little bit not-quite, or to entirely steal a concept from the sages over at , a little bit wonky.
And now here's Tilly & The Wall, who are not to be confused with Florence & The Machine, and who share with Alphabeat a certain innocent freshness. That same freshness which has only really been seen in mainstream pop on the faces of Same Difference, but which also pops up in up and coming bands like Those Dancing Days. And the key part of it is the youthful, freshness of the people involved.
It's that unselfconscious, un-rocking, un-cool joy at doing this crazy music thing. The exact opposite would be a band like the Kooks, or Bullet For My Valentine, where no matter how much you personally enjoy what they do, you can tell they have been studying manuals on how to maximise their potential, and watching endless music documentaries so that they know what the pitfalls are in this hazardous business we call show.
Tilly & The Wall do not act as if they know or care what or where these pitfalls may be. They are entirely caught up in the moment, dancing about like idiots, doing silly breakdance moves to make each other laugh and not worrying at all if anyone thinks they look foolish.
And to do this, all anyone really needs is a loud drum machine, a squitty synth, some strummy guitars, sunshine harmonies and a good song.
Or to put it another way, this would be RUINED if it was recorded properly.
Download: Out now
CD Released: October 6th
(Fraser McAlpine)
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