Tilly And The Wall: O

At first,

Tilly And The Wall seems like nothing more than a band with the gimmicky tap dancer

instead of a drummer. Turns out it's no gimmick, though: The Omaha band's

debut, Wild Like Children, was excellent, and its sophomore slump, Bottoms Of

Barrels, was very

mild. With O,

the group isn't interested in stunts or reinventing the pop song: They just

want the freedom to try whatever rhythms might work. "Pot Kettle Black" makes

like the girl-gang version of The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army,"

stomp-along chorus and all; the tap-dancing doesn't even show up until the

third track, and the band feels free to bounce it off a full kit, stick to just

drums, or ditch everything and go electro-pop. Lyrically, things remains a bit

on the angsty-teen track, with an unhealthy dose of '50s JD drama: There's much

talk of hearing "rock 'n' roll" from someone's radio and unrequited love all

round. But Tilly And The Wall are excellent at writing instantly infectious pop

songs ("Dust Me Off" may be their best yet), and they've finally corralled a

full palate to go with it.