Tilly and the Wall

Regulars on the Omaha scene since 2003, Tilly and the Wall is best known as a novelty indie-folk act, featuring tap dancer Jamie Pressnall in place of a drummer. The title, or lack thereof, of its third album similarly resists convention. Released on Conor Oberst’s Team Love imprint, O refers to the cover’s empty, oval-shaped frame, designed to showcase a series of limited-run slip-in prints. The band also has reframed its music—largely abandoning acoustic instrumentation in favor of electric guitars and ’80s synthesizers, in addition to incorporating drums. It’s conventional, but with so many indie acts relying on gimmicks, good ol’ standard practices are refreshing.

The opening track, “Tall Tall Grass,” begins in the tradition of the band’s established rootsy repertoire. But as soon as singers Neely Jenkins and Kianna Alarid hit the chorus, “When there wasn’t anywhere for me to go, / oh, I stumbled into deep love with your rock & roll,” Derek Pressnall happily obliges, launching into skuzzy, fuzzed-out guitar overdrive.

The majority of the album sounds as if Tilly and the Wall has obsessively studied VJ Martha Quinn’s old MTV playlists. “Dust Me Off” and “Falling Without Knowing” could be discarded Cars tracks circa 1981, while the closing track, “Too Excited,” comes off like the B-52s at a hoedown. Tamer numbers such as “Cacophony” and “Blood Flowers” feature three-way harmonies that recall ’60s vocal groups like the Mamas & the Papas.

For all the cheery melodies, there’s a lot of venom in the lyrics. “The shit gets thicker / It’s toxic / Get it out of my face,” goes the album’s first single, “Pot Kettle Black,” against a peppy backdrop that suggests Belinda Carlisle leading a group of Orange County cheerleaders against a rival squad from L.A. Like all team players, the band turns everything into a foot-stomping, hand-clapping good time. Few bands today sound as if they’re sincerely having this much fun.

Tilly and the Wall plays the Abbey Pub Wednesday 6.