Downpipe - Original Mix

Makes Dublin seem pretty hip, no?

Tilly and the Wall - O

Tilly and the Wall were the coolest indie kids on the block. Cardigan and pigtail wearing chicks, they appeared on Sesame Street ( and covered ABC, naturally) and they have a tap dancer for a drummer. I remember that was the single line intro Marcus gave me when he turned me on to Tilly’s 2006 album Bottom of Barrels. The album was filled with close harmonies about rainbows and birds singing. ‘O’ is not that album.

From opener ‘Tall tall glass’ you know that Tilly et al have grown, and are bolder, louder and angrier. First single ‘Pot Kettle Black’ shows how creative they are when it comes to making the most of Pressnall’s galloping rhythms, turning two feet into an entire rhythm section. Goodbye sunrise songs, hello Party Rock. This is as loud as we’ve every heard Tilly, and they’ve fleshed out their sound with more than just volume.

‘Cacophony’ would have sat nicely on ‘Bottoms of Barrels’with its Tap-tastic intro and three-part vocal harmonies, but it too ventures into new territory with live drums and sax, with limited success it must be said. Tilly’s arsenal of glockenspiel, tap dancing and multi-layered vocals are thankfully present on the rest of the album, but there are still many surprises for long term fans. The album closer, ‘Too excited’ could be a mission statement or a mission-complete statement - swearing like sailors sluts on shore leave, they leave us as they began, with heavy reverb guitars and a proclamation - “I don’t give a shit if I’m cool enough“, and in the process prove that they most certainly are.

THINK: Go! Teammeet The Ting Tings (in tap school)
WATCH: Pot Kettle Black vid
READ: Tilly’s homepage and myspace
BUY: ‘O’ at Moshi Moshi

_triplejaysus_exclusive! - Feral Children

Feral Children, a Seattle quintet, are the latest band in the triplejaysus series of exclusive interviews. They have just released their debut long player, produced by Scott Colburn (Animal Collective) called ‘Second to last frontier’.  

The nice people at Sarathan Records have given triplejaysus readers access to their 4 tracks from the debut in an exclusive EP.

‘Jaundice Giraffe’opens with keys and an oompah beat. Layered on that come ‘Beach Boy’ backing vocals, but don’t let that mislead you. Frank Black-esque barks signal the escalation into cacophony. Brock-like vocal calisthenics continue with what must be carefully constructed abandon, because you cannot deny that it catches you with many of its hooks.

‘Zyghost’is a pounding track with crazy carnival keys and a dirty bassline, and screaming backing vocals I haven’t heard since The Dead Milkmen’s ‘Stuart’. It’s brilliant stuff, and well worth the bandwidth. Go get it!

Jeff Keenan (co-lead singer and stand up drummer) took some time out to answer my questions after the jump. (more…)

Foals – Antidote

Not much of the hype surrounding the release of Antidote reached Oz. SXSW festival goers and NME readers blogged and flogged Foals. Release of Antidote was delayed because the band didn’t like the production by Dave Sitek, of TV on the radio fame.
They remastered and produced the album themselves and it was released in late March, with a limited edition release in the UK.

Foals play an upbeat brand of rock with pop sensibilities. They’re sonic stable mates of Battles, with harmonic laden, polyrhythm pulsing rock songs in pop song clothing. Where Battles and Mars Volta veer to the avant guard, Foals have tight songs with concise structure.

Comparisons to Vampire Weekend are inevitable, although the similarity isn’t immediately obvious. Complex drum work with bolstering bass lines underpin distinctive vocals and pop hooks describes both bands, but this is not an either or case. Foals play pop music earnestly. And I seriously recommend you check them out.

THINK: Battles meet Vampire Weekend
READ: These Oxford boys whimsical blog
WATCH: Baloons video
BUY: Antidote at Foals shop

Why?  - Alopecia

Yoni Wolf titled Why’s third album Alopecia. If you do a google images search you’re in for a surprise. Not necessarily a pleasant one, but a surprise. Alopecia continues to deliver the unexpected track after track.

I first heard of Why? on a Silver Jews touring bill and figured they were worth checking out. Later I made sense of the SJ lyric ‘all my favourite singers can’t sing’. Wolf doesn’t disappoint, taking us through talk/rap, boy-band croon and irony-laden melodies with little idea that his voice is so ’distinctive’.

The lyrics are simply sensational. Linguistic agility, a trait common to white rappers, is made to seem trite, a bone tossed effortlessly to his homeys. ‘I picked a fight on dyke night…and blew kisses to disinterested bitches’is delivered with sleepy disdain in a stream of consciousness confessional on ‘Good Friday’, and the sound of loose change rattling will be changed for evermore on ‘The Hollows’.

Why? hold your attention throughout the 14 tracks on ‘Alopecia’, saving some of the best tracks for the final quarter, as if to repay your commitment. If Conor Oberst fronted They Might Be Giants without the novelty rock, you’d get close to a tribute band for Why?

THINK: Bright Eyes meets TMBG sans gags
READ: Why’s Bio and myspace
WATCH: The Hollows
BUY: Alopecia from Anticon