Are you looking to expand your music taste and add some variety to your playlists? Consider listening to Tally Hall and some of their side project albums. 

Tally Hall is a band which formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They originally considered their music to be ‘Wonky Rock,’ but then they referred to it as ‘fabloo’ so their music could not be defined by a specific genre. The band formed in December 2002, and they consist of five members. Each member is recognized by the color of their ties. The members are Rob Cantor (guitarist, yellow tie), Joe Hawley (guitarist, red tie), Ross Federman (Drummer, grey tie), Andrew Horowitz (keyboardist, green tie), and Zubin Sedghi (bassist, blue tie). They also have ties for their touring partner (Casey Shea, black tie) and their producer (Bora Karaca, orange tie).  

On October 24th, 2005, Tally Hall released their first album, Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum. The album shares its name with a museum in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Also, the album’s cover art features some of the machines that can be found in the museum.  

Another interesting fact about the band was their ten-part video series, Tally Hall’s Internet Show. This series debuted on September 15th, 2008, and each episode consisted of comedy sketches and music videos for songs from MMMM. 

Then, on June 21st, 2011, the album Good & Evil was released. However, after their second album was released, the band became inactive, and the members began to work various solo side projects. A popular side project featuring many of the former Tally Hall members was the album Hawaii: Part II by ラクルミュージカル (Miracle Musical).  This project was started by Joe Hawley along with the help of Ross Federman and Bora Karaca. Two other members, Rob Cantor and Zubin Sedghi appeared on the album for two songs, White Ball and Time Machine.

Here are the most listened to songs from Tally Hall (according to Spotify, as of 2023) 

1. Hidden in the Sand (157,149,719 listens)
2. The Bidding (138,300,220 listens)
3. Turn the Lights Off (70,457,756 listens) 
4. Ruler of Everything (51, 841,984 listens) 
5. A Lady (12,694,166 listens) 

Here are the most listened to songs from Hawaii: Part II (according to Spotify, as of 2023) 

1. Dream Sweet in Sea Major (68,033,136 listens) 
2. Murders (50,567,495 listens) 
3. Labyrinth (34,284,886 listens) 
4. Introduction to the Snow (26,764,641 listens) 
5. The Mind Electric (25,240,700 listens) 

   

Despite the band’s inactivity, there are still plenty of fans online who share their opinions and discuss topics regarding Tally Hall. And, with the help of TikTok trends, some of the band’s songs received new, younger audiences. Not to mention, within the last year, an online song artist by the name of Chonny Jash (a play on the singer Johnny Cash’s name) created an album featuring covers of songs primarily from MMMM. The album, Chonny’s Charming Chaos Compendium Vol.1, also features covers of songs from the band’s side projects such as: The Mind Electric, Variations on a Cloud, and Night & Light.

Overall, I highly recommend giving Tally Hall a listen if any readers are interested in it. It would give some variety and uniqueness to your playlists. Listening to the same music after a while can make your listening experiences feel dull and mundane. Therefore, it is important to try something new and to broaden your horizons.