Tilly and the Wall

“You are born so fresh, a golden prize, until you scrape that knee and quickly realize/ that you’re lost in a fog on your way to death…” That sentiment from the song “Nights of the Living Dead” is the heartbeat of Tilly and the Wall’s debut album, Wild Like Children. Propelled by the infectious, urgent rhythm of tap-dancing (yes, tap dancing), this CD is unassailably perfect. From the call-to-arms of “Nights of the Living Dead” (“The microphone cut off so we’re screaming at the top of our lungs”) to the sweet co-ed harmonies and melodic perfection of, well, every damn simply-drawn song, Tilly and the Wall combine beauty and fun with badass rebelliousness. Cynics will complain of beautiful boys and girls singing simple pop songs, but I say it’s those very qualities that will get the hard hearts to join the hand-clapping, foot stomping, full-chorus harmonies of songs like the closer, “The Ice Storm, Big Bust, and You,” with its piano-run flourishes and “C’mon!” shouts, and the promise: “We will sing pretty songs about love/ and we will fight if that’s what it takes/ and we won’t back down.” Amen!