Homepage
Contact Cityzen
Cityzen Radio Playlist
Advertize With Cityzen.tv

 

 

 


I’m afraid I must unabashedly disavow any sense of objectivity regarding Arbor Day, as I’ ve been friends with most of the members since our salad days at NYU; the only slice of journalistic credibility I can offer is to say that I saw them perform and fell in love with their late-April variety picnic pop, long before frontman Dileepan Dili Ganesan set the record for most nights spent crashed on my futon.

So for what it s worth, these guys are playing some of the peppiest, daydreamiest, catchiest tunes that too many New Yorkers aren t hearing. Their flagship song, Vegetable, has an assortment of hooks that will dangle from your ears for days- with a swinging cherubic tip-toe for an opening riff, spiraling vocal melodies and a crunchy power chord breakdown, only the snobbiest of pop purists will care that it doesn t have (because it doesn t need) a bridge. They ve got five equally beautiful songs on their Radar Boy EP, but I really shouldn t be pimping CDs for my buds (although if I wanted to, I d tell you Radar Boy is available at CDBaby.com, Mondo Kim s, and other fine purveyors of aural nutrition).

I will, however, pimp their live shows, which usually take place once or twice a month in the hipper boroughs of New York. Not only can you hear some sweet as-of-yet unrecorded Arbor material, like the Bright Eyes-with-muscles folk-rocker Drive Into the Fire, but you get all the perks and quirks that don t translate onto plastic: see Dili strum and croon from his 67 reverie while Andy juggles tambourine, trombone and theremin (motherfuggin theremin!).

Vin emotively adds layers of warm, shoegazing fuzz, bassist Joe lays down the bottom and stomps his feet with soulful force, and drummer Dan keeps a beat that s both snappy and scruffy (and as an honest-to-goodness truck driver by day, he s the only New York rocker I ve met that s permitted to wear the trucker hat).

Recent shows included a Mercury Lounge debut (w/ The Amber Smith) and wall of sound stunner at Northsix on February 29 (with Head of Femur). Check the web site for future dates.

Can you hear me now?
Arbor Day vying for comercial dollars...

Tilly and the Wall


Arbor Day s January 18th performance at Sin-E was made extra-sweet thanks to special guests Tilly and the Wall, an Omaha-based five-piece with a rustic acoustic guitar, bouncy keyboards, flower child harmonies and tap dancing in harmonies and tap dancing in lieu of drums. Even in their mall-Goth getups (T&tW adds to performances with thematic atire), they warmed the hearts of the frozen hipsters like a giant wool blanket made by your hippie aunt.

www.tillyandthewall.com




Tilly and the Wall photographs by
Jasper Cooldige of Jenyk.com