The background: The history of rock is full of examples of what happens when siblings form bands. The Kinks, Sparks, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and Oasis all feature creative alliances fuelled by brotherly tension. With Josh and Zach Tillman, we don’t get to see sparks fly because they’ve each got their own outfit – the former is in Fleet Foxes while the latter has his Pearly Gate Music, which began as a lo-fi, laptop-and-scratchy-guitar bedroom exercise, although it’s grown to include Zach’s drummer brother as part of his recording and touring band.
That said, unlike Oasis, the Kinks, and the Mary Chain, Pearly Gate Music aren’t about fury and flying sparks (as for Sparks themselves, they merit a category all their own). No, PGM make a hymnal, spectral sound that is often quiet, even sepulchral, so much so that this could function effectively as alternative church music – a lone, mysterious church that you might stumble upon in some backwoods somewhere – and in this respect it’s definitely a case of, if you like Fleet Foxes, you’ll love PGM.
There are differences. We can’t put it any better than the reviewer who concluded that, though both Tillmans are Neil Young fans, Zach is more about the haunted, harrowing folk-blues of ‘On the Beach’ than Josh and Co’s sweeter ‘After the Goldrush’ influences. Or to put it another way: he’s more Hank Williams than Brian Wilson. This is indie-country, although there are echoes of other stuff here – on “Golden Funeral”, the startling opener of the self-titled debut album, you think of Alex Chilton’s fractured, after-hours ballads from ‘Sister Lovers’, but then suddenly a track like “Big Escape” will veer closer towards power pop territory, even if it is done on the cheap, bringing to mind an unplugged version of Big Star’s ‘Radio City’. But what really makes PGM and FF blood brothers are Zach Tillman’s vocals – when Josh joins in on “Oh! What a Time”, they evoke the pure, clear tones of those other warring siblings, the Everlys.
When he was a kid, the Tillman family home caught fire and Zach got trapped in the attic where he was “putting the finishing touches on the handmade crafts I was gifting my parents and siblings that year”. By the time the rescue crew got to him through the flames, he had been “technically dead for at least three minutes”. Bizarrely, when he came to, he discovered that he could sight read any piano sheet music that was put in front of him, from Thelonious Monk to Mozart. He’s since lost this strangely acquired skill, but you still get a sense with PGM – as you do with FF – of a musician in touch with mystifying sources.
The buzz: “It is spectral in its intensity, but not oppressive. It is these quiet haunters that earmark the younger Tillman as a significant talent” – The Fly.
“A heavenly offering from Seattle’s Zach Tillman … When the Grim Reaper finally takes his swing and we scamper up that golden staircase to stand before St Peter we hope that the harp-strains that catch our ears are as beautiful as this debut.” - NME
“Lo-fi, high-octane. Tillman is a character on fire.” - MOJO
“We’re overcome by Tillman’s gorgeous and provocative writing, giving us the kinds of poignant and cutting truths/insight that one like Kris Kristofferson does with every single line he’s ever written. A song like “Gossamer Hair,” contains bits and pieces of everything that make Tillman one of the most promising new artists in the country.” - Daytrotter
The truth: This is heaven rock, pure and simple.
