Hi-lo Rilo!

Rilo Kiley. The pet project of Jenny Lewis. Her voice is sweet. Her attitude is somewhat spunky and sexy. She is mighty cute. And as Carley informs me, she was one of the girl campers from the film Troop Beverly Hills. I give my wife mad props for pulling this morsel of useless knowledge out of her head. If recalling useless media crap were a game of poker, I would easily qualify for the finals in the World Series of Poker. However, when Car dropped that nugget about Troop Beverly Hills, it was like she trumped my three aces with a royal flush. She laid the smack down with that bit-o-knowledge. Then to punctuate her winning hand she broke into a verse of the camp theme song from the movie.


Under The Blacklight is an album that I am kicking myself that I waited to get. It came out mid-year 2007 and I held out for Christmas to get it (thanks Karen). This album marked the beginning of their major label career. Rilo Kiley has a strong following from their indie days and a move to a major label is always met with controversy. Critics loved the album. Fan reviews railed about it selling out. I myself, liked them as an indie band, but was never crazy about them. In contrast to their die-hard fans, I think that this album was a giant step forward. It has proven them as not just being another indie band reaching too far. In order to make the shift to a major label work, they had to step it up and develop their sound. Under The Blacklight drifts between sweet melodies, sexy come ons, and disenchanted lovers with great ease. Not everything that they try to pull off works, but most of it does. Hopefully, on the next album they will skip the dsico and latin stuff. This has been a great listen and some of the songs stick with me for days. Had I purchased this when it came out, it would have been in my best of 2007 list on rutneskiland.

listen to these: Silver Lining, Close Call, The Moneymaker, Dreamworld, 15
skip these: Breakin' Up, Dejalo