Categories : Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 3/5 Released: August 21, 2007 Reviewer: David Coats |
Much more simple, glossy, and overtly pop than 2004’s More Adventurous, and much less gritty, introspective and gutsy than lead vocalist Jenny Lewis’ 2006 solo album, Rabbit Fur Coat, Under The Blacklight is clearly Rilo Kiley’s most commercial record to date. Unfortunately, in the process of this transformation, the band made a record containing few of the elements that made their previous records so impacting.
Lewis’ impressively versatile, immediately recognizable voice has always been the band’s star, but the band’s engine has been Lewis’ songwriting. As evidenced on More Adventurous, Lewis has always tended to write extremely personal songs, with an emotional intensity few can match, and the band’s music has generally been written to reflect that intensity.
It is surprising, therefore, to hear the band sound as stylized as they do on UTB. Lewis’ vocals still shimmer, but this time are sung over pure pop arrangements, at times sounding as though it came from Studio 54-era New York rather than 21st century Los Angeles (check out the blatantly disco ‘Breakin’ Up’). The songs themselves are melodically addictive, and are tough not to like in and of themselves, especially during the record’s first half – opener ‘Silver Lining’ could warm the coldest of days, and Lewis channels Karen O in all her unsettling glory on ‘Moneymaker’ – but the songs don’t feel cohesive, and Lewis’ lyrics simply don’t reach the depths we’ve become accustomed to. Though the songs remain sunny and likeable, the record never really recovers from the dismissible one-two combination of ‘Dreamworld’ and ‘Dejalo.’
The liner notes contain photos that would suggest the record’s theme is a tongue-in-cheek look at the unhappiness inherent to putting image over substance, but too often it feels like that’s exactly what the songs do. Under The Blacklight may well be the record that propels Rilo Kiley to stardom, but this is by no means their definitive work.
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