It was only four years ago that Tilly and the Wall burst like a popping balloon onto the independent music scene. A potent combination of sing-song boy-girl vocals, acoustic guitars, keyboard accents and a tap dancer instead of a drummer, the Omaha-based five-piece sang songs about not wanting to grow up, losing your love to the road, the urge to force the night as far as you could take it and more. Their debut, Wild Like Children, was a revelation to anyone who’s ever wanted to sing their hearts out like vocalists Neely Jenkins and Kianna Alarid; anyone who’s ever wanted to pummel big chunky chords from their acoustic guitar or keyboards like vocalist/guitarist Derek Pressnall and keyboardist Nick White; anyone whose love of rhythm meant letting their bodies create the song’s beat through motion like tap dancer Jamie Pressnall. Their follow-up, Bottoms of Barrels, pushed their sound one step forward, taking Tilly’s signature point of view of “we” to new heights: they told us we didn’t have to back down and close our eyes to go to sleep; we could shout for our freedom; we could wake up your mothers and start a commotion, and this youthful excitement would never ever stop.And then something changed. Kind of. Read more...