Rally on With Tally Hall

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 24, 2006 3:06PM

Whilst we have gone on and on about how much we enjoy The Changes, suffice it to say that their CD release show last Friday went swimmingly. We admit we could have done without the disco dancing encore of "Twilight," especially since it followed a hipstertastic cover of Judas Priest's "Living After Midnight," but one misstep could not ruin an otherwise joyous affair.

And by joyous we mean the band was tight and beaming, and the crowd was tight and nubile.

Anyway.

We were especially curious, though, to see openers Tally Hall. We had read much font spilled over their musical exploits and their seemingly constant touring schedule.At the show we were greeted with a particularly faithful cover of "Freebird" at the opening of their set. While we admired their moxie for effectively shutting up all the smart-asses in the audience, we began to worry that we were perhaps dealing with a band that was too ironic for its own good.

As the set progressed that fear was allayed, but another annoyance sprang up. Now, don't get us wrong: the men of Tally Hall are incredibly gifted musicians. They sing exceedingly well, are masters of their instruments, and ooze charisma. They may, however, just be too smart for their own good. We found ourselves appreciating the complexity of their songs while wishing that they would stick with one genre longer than a few measures. More than once we found ourselves exclaiming, "Why can't they just stick with THAT!" just as a power-pop chorus would deconstruct into a mall-inspired Ben Folds-ian rap before finally segueing into a Biz Markie cover.

(Another side note: We have always found sets with more than one cover song dubious at best)

After the show we took a copy of the band's debut home with us and discovered it had a strikingly similar feel to their live set. The band has the chops and the hooks, and, we discovered, a dizzyingly precise command of the studio. However, it seems as if the tunes have a hard time containing such a potent mixture of dazzling talent, and end up ricocheting through so many changes within each three to four minute confine that the listener is left breathless but strangely unsatisfied. Or maybe overly satisfied. Either was it's like too heady a sugar rush. Ultimately we look forward to seeing the band again. At the very least, we can stand in appreciation of the control they have over their craft. At the very best, we may witness their evolution as their songs discover a finer knowledge of the human condition and begin to stand and breathe on their own merits, instead of masking their faults with polish and shine.