Every once in a while you find a band that frees your mind from the preconceptions of what music is supposed to sound like.

Tilly and the Wall is one of those bands.

When I found out they would be opening for Rilo Kiley on a slew of shows in late 2004, I looked them up and read their bio from Team Love, their record label. Excerpts below.

Tilly and the Wall sprang out of Nowheresville, USA ? a Midwestern band of like-minded friends with pockets full of melodies?.and a lot of pockets. The serendipitous result of five Omaha residents with a penchant for the same classic ?60s pop, boy/girl harmonies and Americana folk records, Tilly and the Wall celebrates the petulant, determined, feisty nature of youth. They rejoice in tales of dreams followed, mistakes made, and hearts broken.

With an album inspired by love, friendship, music and dancing, it?s obvious that Tilly and the Wall like to dance. In particular, Tilly and the Wall like to tap dance. In fact, they forego a drummer. Instead Tilly and the Wall's star percussionist Jamie provides beats with her own nimble-toed tap-dances. Sometimes she bangs some old leather suitcases with drumsticks while Neely and Kianna play tambourine and bells. You can listen to Tilly songs and tap along in your own bedroom in your own house in your own town. They hope that you do.

Tap Dancing instead of drums? P'Shaw. Yea, that was my first reaction too. Then I listened to the record. Pure pop goodness. Multiple vocalists. Cute girls in the band. Suddenly, the prospect of seeing them live got a lot more exciting.

Unfortunately, Rilo had modified their taping policy and were no longer allowing Soundboard recording. My chances of getting some soundboard sourced tap-dancing-loving looked to be near nil. Forunately at the Austin show at Emo's, the venue opted to have Tilly play inside, and Fiery Furnaces "open" for Rilo Kiley outside. Seeing an opportunity I found some of the girls in the band and asked about taping - no problem! they replied, thanks for coming to the show. Lovely.

So I plugged in the old recorder, set it up to record the set, then wandered outside to get video of Elected.

Here's some tap dancing goodness for you too.

Links:
Team Love
Home Page
Tilly New Album Blog!

MP3s:
Intro
Reckless
Ice Storm, Big Gust, and You
You and I Misbehaving
Shake It Out
Fell Down the Stairs
A Perfect Fit
Nights of the Living Dead
Sad Sad Song