Liars’ Sisterworld will be available beginning March 9th via Mute Records. In addition to the recently unveiled “Scissor”, the effort will include 10 other tracks, most of which have rather dark and ominous titles — “Scarecrows On A Killer Slant”, “Drop Dead”, “Goodnight Everything”, etc. Goes with the theme of the album, I suppose.

Sisterworld Tracklist:
01. Scissor
02. No Barrier Fun
03. Here Comes All The People
04. Drip
05. Scarecrows On A Killer Slant
06. I Still Can See An Outside World
07. Proud Evolution
08. Drop Dead
09. The Overachievers
10. Goodnight Everything
11. Too Much, Too Much

Two weeks later, on March 23rd, She & Him’s second full-length, aptly titled Volume Two, will hit your favorite retailers via Merge. The album sport 13 tracks, including covers of NRBQ’s “Ridin’ in My Car” and Skeeter Davis’s “Gonna Get Along Without You”. What’s more, Tilly and the Wall make a vocal appearance on the track titled “In The Sun”.

Volume Two Tracklist:
01. Thieves
02. In the Sun (feat. Tilly and the Wall)
03. Don’t Look Back
04. Ridin’ in My Car (NRBQ cover)
05. Lingering Still
06. Me and You
07. Gonna Get Along Without You Now (Skeeter Davis cover)
08. Home
09. I’m Gonna Make It Better
10. Sing
11. Over It Over Again
12. Brand New Shoes
13. If You Can’t Sleep

The night started out with two openers, Exit Clov and The Ruby Suns. My night, however, started off in the downstairs bar keeping a friend company who was unable to get a ticket at the door as we had planned. Fortunately, I did catch the end of The Ruby Suns, just as the duo finished up a well received set of indietronica to an already packed house. After providing the audience with balloons to blow up and bounce around, the set ran on time, and at around 11:30, Tilly and the Wall came on to a roaring crowd, opening with a track (“Too Excited”) from their latest release, O. This was a great way to bring in the band because of the song’s minute and a half tap dance solo introduction and punk rock attitude feeding off the energy of the crowd.

Tilly and the Wall is headed by three very talented sirens, Jamie Lynn Pressnall on full time tap, and Neely Jo Jenkins singing with the occasional stomp on her own miced up floor box. Kianna Marie Alarid provided lead vocals and bass guitar throughout the night, as Derek Scott Pressnall (married to Jamie Lynn) provided guitars with Nick White on the keys. A tour drummer was provided, but only used for select songs since Pressnall’s dancing did the percussionist’s job quite effectively live.

The band felt the excitement of their fans and delivered back, running through a set of songs mostly from their latest record. Enhanced by an impressive light display and confetti guns added to the retro club vibe already set by their animal print spandex (Jamie Lynn) and Jetson like dresses (Kianna and Neely). Derek constantly thanked the crowd for coming out, and never lost his smile for the duration of the set. Their trademark infectious harmonies and bubbly personas kept the evening light and care free.

“Falling”, the fourth song of the night, gave the tap-dancing a break as they broke out the new wave inspired track. I can only imagine the work out that a full time rock tap-dancer gets on tour, and for that a few songs were chosen throughout the night to provide Jamie Lynn a break, but that didn’t stop her from twirling around the stage as with the disco fever of  “Beat Control”, number six for the evening. As the night rolled well past the D.C. curfew (or at least for some), the rebellious nature of the music kept those youngsters from running to their minivans. The indie act closed the night with the heavy fist pumping “Pot Kettle Black” and the hippy love inspired “Sing Songs Along”. I am not sure if an encore was scheduled for the night, but the band was cheered and applauded back on for a four song, request only, encore that included “Night of the Living Dead” and “Fell Down The Stairs”. The latter was picked, interestingly enough, due to a fan’s tattoo of the lyrics on her chest.

At the end of the night, Derek came back out to meet the devoted fan and take a picture of the art. The evening was wildly entertaining, justifying the high attendance. Every song was flawlessly reconstructed for the live show, even when taking requests. As I looked around, almost everyone was moving, it was hard not to, and the band felt that giving us their musical best meant closing out the night around 1 am.

Well done Tilly, well done.

Very, very special thanks to photographer, Shantel Mitchell!

Set List:
Set 1:
Too Excited
Jumbler
Rainbows In The Dark
Falling Without Knowing
Bad Education
Reckless
Beat Control
Dust Me Off
Cacophony
Tall Sale
Big Gust
Pot Kettle Black
Sing Songs Along
Encore:
Night of the Living Dead
?
Fell Down The Stairs
?

O is a much more aggressive record than their previous work with songs like “Pot Kettle Black” adding a Yeah Yeah Yeah’s element to the sound. Also new for the group is the addition of other forms of percussion, notably a drum kit, and is more keyboard intensive. The bulk of the sound for Tilly, however, remains their signature up-down guitar strumming, tap-dancing, harmonizing selves that got them on Letterman in the first place.

The lyrics remain personal, using descriptive elements to tell a story, which is a technique that the Tilly has embraced through out each album. The songs never get too dark, as the band can be noted for remaining positive in their sound; with songs that are some of the most hopeful that I have heard in a while.

Like “Pot Kettle Black”, the eighth track, “Falling Without Knowing” is a step in a different direction, but this time they chose a more new wave influence than gritty rock like before. This song, coupled with “Blood Flowers” are about as dark as the band gets as they cry out “you better watch what your doing, don’t go fucking around in the garden.” Starting with a sassy tap dance solo, “Too Excited” is a punk rock inspired ode to kicking-ass and taking names, and as the last track is another example of how creative this five-some can be as they break away from their traditionally peppy flower rock.

For a band as unique as this, I hope the original use of a tap dancer for their percussion is kept throughout their musical career. While they do have the ability to write songs that venture away from this style, it seems to me that they are stretching for some pop recognition, and this could be harmful to them in the future, as pop success can kill a good indie act as fast as it can make it popular. Songs such as the opener “Tall Tall Glass” and “Jumbler” tastefully alternate percussions that enhance Tilly and the Wall in a positive way, while taking the listener back to their previous records. “Chandelier Lake” is another positive example of growth that works. Still with tap-heavy backing, guitar distortion adds for further depth, including a short spikey solo. “Dust Me Off” follows suit, this time adding a talk-box for style points.

Overall, this is a well-done album for Tilly and the Wall. For the most part they stuck to their guns as they have before, for a comfortable sound that fans can really appreciate. For the interludes stepping into new territory, some worked, and other didn’t, but let’s hope they don’t step too far for next time.

Check Out:
“Pot Kettle Black”
“Cacophony”