Doctor Mooney's 115th Dream: Pearly Gate Music Casts Heavenly Spell on "Big Escape"

“After nearly a decade of trying to be a decent, hard-working proletariat,” exclaims the Emerald City storyteller, Zach Tillman, “I’ve taken up permanent residency on Deadbeat Street. And what better way to spend time there than home recording?” The fact that Zach Tillman’s older brother is Fleet Foxes’ drummer and solo artist Josh Tillman doesn’t mean a hoot in our book. Under the holy moniker, Pearly Gate Music, Zach Tillman has created a mysterious piece of bewitching airy daydreams on his 10-track lo-fi Barsuk Records debut.

Recorded mostly in his Seattle living room, the most important cut and centerpiece of the self-titled album comes in the form of the alluring, “Big Escape.” This is enchanting indie electric church music at its finest, patients. Doused in a folk-pop glow, the lively, bouncing rhythm smolders and fizzes as Tillman croons about a summer escapade: “All the way down the West Coast / It's about time for a big escape.”

“Big Escape”
Written by: Zach Tillman

It's been years
since the big escape
the summer days
were gorgeous as your face
i mean it

the birds sang
we fell in love
we got fired
we got fired up

i needed it
ooo ooo
ooo ooo
ooo ooo oooo

and we come
to a harder part
the casualties of a war
we didn't start
and never ever wanted

i've got the time
if you've got the notion
i've got the patience
if you've got the gusto
all of our strengths
will fit just like a puzzle
all the way down the West Coast

it's about time for a big escape
it's about time for a big escape
it's about time for a big escape
it's about time for a big escape

ooo ooo (repeat)

Take Up Thy Rock 'N Roll Stethoscope and Walk,