Live Review: Rilo Kiley - First Avenue, May 22nd

Download: Spinto Band - "Oh Mandy"
Download: Rilo Kiley - "Draggin Around"
Download: Nik Feritas - "Sun Down"


Rilo Kiley, the poster children of popular indie rock, played a fantastic show to a packed house on Thursday, May 22 at First Avenue.

Opener Nik Freitas started out a relatively short set. He is someone I’m not too familiar with, but I enjoyed the few stray songs I’d heard here and there (mainly the happy acoustic tune "Sun Down," featured on the May release by the same title). I was partially expecting his set to be nothing more than quiet background noise as people trickled into the show, but was pleasantly surprised that his mellow music translates to something quite catchy and lively on stage. Freitas will be coming back to Minneapolis June 30 to play 7th Street Entry.

The Spinto Band are 6 dudes hailing from Delaware who seriously have one of the most oddly fun live presences that I’ve seen as of late, and jammed for 40 minutes right before Rilo Kiley. More often than not it’s a bit of an anticlimactic overkill to have a literal “crew” of band members occupying stage space, especially when the sound isn’t anything to write home about. The Spinto Band, however, brought so much energy with their over-exaggerated, synchronized Beatles body-swaying that it felt like one solid unit, all parties considered. Their sound is somewhere between Blur and modern day Beach Boys with their repetitious drum and symbol explosions high-pitched melodies.

Rilo Kiley experienced a boatload of backlash from hardcore fans and critics alike after its release, calling it "overproduced" and saying that the band had abandoned their profound, heartfelt songwriting skills and in exchange were creating music that sounds like an empty, poorly executed homage to 1960s pop music. I know I’m in the minority by saying this, but I think Under the Blacklight is actually quite a fun, eclectic album, and seeing RK perform those songs live only solidified that opinion. They opened with the sexy, howling ‘Close Call,’ following it with a few more new songs that really exhibited the variety of sound of style that RK are actually capable of pulling of. Jenny Lewis sung her little heart out in all her adorable red-headed glory, but Blake Sennett stole the show with his phenomenal guitar work on songs like ‘The Moneymaker’ and bellowing background vocals on old favorites like ‘Pictures of Success’ (which was definitely a major highlight of the night).

There’s a very good reason that Rilo Kiley’s popularity is continuing to rise; they are an extremely talented and diverse group of musicians, who play together like they were made for one another. Regardless of a few critics and old fans hating on the new avenues Rilo Kiley seems to be feeling out, there’s no denying that when you hear those new songs live, there’s no doubt that their execution is anything but empty.

Nik Feritas MySpace Page
The Spinto Band
Rilo Kiley Myspace Page

(Tara Rogan)

Rilo Kiley - Under The Blacklight

Download: Rilo Kiley - "Silver Lining"

Rilo Kiley
Under the Blacklight (Warner Bros., 2007)
Grade: D

I feel like I should have so much to say about this album. But I don't. I've never been a fan of calling bands sell outs, but sometimes you can pin down the second when a band stops caring about craft and credibility. Under the Blacklight has captured that exact moment. Some of the songs have something genuinely good underneath the shine, but it's been so coated in sugar that you'll have a hard time uncovering it. Others are so repetitive that it's hard to even slog through. I wish I could say there are flashes of brilliance that redeem the record, but there really aren't. Under the Blacklight makes me feel patronized.

It's hard to decide what the biggest problem on this record is. I think it might be the lyrics. I like the whole idea of a pop album with super-dark lyrics, but I just don't know if Jenny Lewis is up to the task. In the past, she's been a really hit-and-miss lyricist. Look at "A Better Son/Daughter," off of The Execution Of All Things: It goes from awkward to brilliant to rhyming "in" with…"in," all in the same song. And that inconsistency is present on Under the Blacklight. "Close Call" is really strong, but it is balanced by "The Angels Hung Around," which treads incredibly worn lyrical territory.

Or, the biggest problem might be how generic most of the songwriting is. The whole album feels like something the average ghostwriter could crank out. "Under the Blacklight" is a prime example. It isn't a bad song. It's actually a very solid song and I can see it being popular. But it sounds like Sheryl Crow. The song is built on the standard verse-chorus-verse structure with nothing that sets it apart from anything any other artists are doing.

Unique songs, like "Dejalo", add interest to the album, but even the funky, Latin-inspired number doesn't really have enough going on to keep it afloat for the full 3:16. "Dreamworld," however saves the album from being a solid F. It's kind of fun to hear what the Sonic Youth might sound like if they decided to appeal to Michelle Branch fans.

Already, some diehard RK fans are claiming that this album is a bold, ironic statement. Maybe that's true. Maybe in five years' time, we'll all reminisce about what a courageous album this was. That doesn't make it any more listenable. Under the Blacklight just doesn't have the substance or creativity to make it into my regular rotation.

(April Wright)

New Rilo Kiley Video

Check this out.

(Jonathan Graef)

Stream Rilo Kiley's Under The Blacklight

Download: Rilo Kiley - "Under The Blacklight"
Download: Rilo Kiley - "Silver Lining"
Download: Rilo Kiley - "Breakin' Up"

Though tomorrow, as an album release date, is a cornucopia of highly anticipated records, perhaps none is more awaited than Rilo Kiley's Under The Blacklight. "The Moneymaker," the first single, wasn't exactly beloved by a lot of long term fans (I, myself, thought Kiley sounded like a Steve Miller cover band), follow-up "Silver Lining" proved to be much more favorable. You, yourself, can hear how these songs fit in the context of an album by streaming Under The Blacklight in its entirety over at the band's MySpace Page. Then and only then will you be able to tell if jumping to a major label was worth it for Jenny Lewis and company.

Buy Under The Blacklight here.

(Jonathan Graef)

Rilo Kiley - "The Moneymaker"

Download: Rilo Kiley - "The Moneymaker

I actually found this while surfing Perez Hilton for my daily dose of celebrity goss.

I fundamentally like the groove to this song, and I think Jenny’s voice is up to the radical change in style. But, the lack of musical variety on the verses translates to her just kind of following the bouncing ball lyrically. I don’t like it when singers very closely follow the guitar and bass with their singing (or vice versa), and there’s a whole lot of that in this song. I think it really limits the freedom and creativity of the song. That’s definitely the case here. The underlying beat of the song paired with Jenny’s pipes could have done something cool, but this falls pretty flat. Add the lyrics in on top, and this song is a pretty big disappointment. But still, for some reason, I cannot get it out of my fucking head.

Now, the video. So, this is an attempt to make it big, right? With the pornstars and Jenny looking hot (and changing costume every three seconds), I have a hard time believing there’s really supposed to be underlying artistic value or social commentary in it. It’s a grub to get the kind of attention other indie rock acts are getting. Rilo Kiley has been poised on the edge of hitting it big for a couple of years now. Maybe this’ll push them over the edge into mainstream popularity, maybe this video will be so over-the-top that it fails to catch. I honestly cannot predict what is going to happen with them.

Being that I’m so torn on this song, I’m going to give it two grades:

Artistic value (song construction, good lyrics, etc): C
Pop value (get out of my head!): B+

MySpace Page

(April Wright)

*300th Post!