Tally Hall

TALLY HALL
"MARVIN'S MARVELOUS MECHANICAL MUSEUM"
(Atlantic, 2008)


"The Bidding"


Here's yet another one of those CDs that I stumbled upon at the store, having never even heard of the artist before. The album's title is what intrigued me first (after shaking off its unfortunate resemblance to the mediocre Dustin Hoffman movie "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium"), as did the curious cover art. This is a case in which you can judge a book (or CD, as the case may be) by its cover, as Michigan-based Tally Hall throw together a surprisingly coherent hodgepodge of sounds for their self-produced major-label debut.

These guys are entirely original pop-rock artists, but at the same time they'd fit right in with the more quirky, whimsical acts like They Might Be Giants, Madness, and (as a far-lesser-known reference) The Uninvited. Like Frank Zappa and Queen, they take serious left-turns in the middle of their songs, with changes in key, tempo, or sometimes the whole style of the song. They toss in a rap here and there even though they know they sound totally uncool -- and that makes them even cooler. One of the best comparisons, I think, would be to Barenaked Ladies' earlier material: they can bring on the silliness in full force, but at the same time they can write a killer pop song.

If there's one thing this album might suffer from, it's inconsistency ... but even that's limited to just one track that is a complete and total throwaway ("Two Wuv") -- unless I just didn't get the joke. But put that against all the good songs here -- the aptly titled "Taken For a Ride", the apparent "Day-O" sequel/tribute "Banana Man", the cute and clever "Haiku", the straight-faced but excellent "Just Apathy", and the tour-de-force closer "Ruler Of Everything" -- and it's a very small complaint about an otherwise great album.