When you recruit a tap dancer instead of a drummer for your indie-pop band, of course folks are going to harp on it. Tilly and the Wall's 2004 debut, Wild Like Children, got bogged down by endless talk of that big twist, and that's a real shame, since the novelty of percussionist Jamie Williams' tap work wears off after a minute or two, while a pitch-perfect tune such as “Nights of the Living Dead”-detailing youthful excess in leering detail-sticks for months. For every featherweight pop tune, there's a raucous anthem racing out of the garage. When the band unveils its third album later this year, let's hope it maintains that combination of sweet and soured. And enough already about the tap dancing.
Thu., Feb. 28, 7 p.m., 2008