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Rilo Kiley
The Execution of All Things
(Saddle Creek)
First Appeared at The Music Box, October 2003, Volume 10, #10
Written by Michael Karpinski
Seattle... Austin... Detroit.... It seems only a matter of time before every American city gets its 15 minutes in the indie-rock-hotbed spotlight.
So why the hell not Omaha? And why the hell not now?
After all, Omaha has long been a contributor to the collective culture —
spawning such Clonaid-impervious originals as Jack Nicholson, Gerald Ford, Fred
Astaire, and Malcolm X; serving as home and muse to black-antic, smart-alec
auteur Alexander Payne (Citizen Ruth, Election, About
Schmidt); and, most relevant to our present purposes, supplying shelter and
a post-office box for Saddle Creek Records — home-away-from-home to Conor
Oberst’s Bright Eyes, Detroit’s The Faint, and the up-and-coming California
quartet Rilo Kiley.
Formed in 1998, Rilo Kiley released its first album (Take Offs and Landings)
in 2001, then hit the road as openers for the Breeders, Pedro the Lion, and
Superchunk. Take Offs’ tunes were a loosely-strung set of bashful amblers
— semi-polished; never precious; and not above building to mini-epiphanies and
spontaneous sing-alongs when not indulging in random fits of band-on-a-bender,
countrified clatter.
The Execution of All Things, Rilo Kiley’s 2002 follow-up, remains
eccentric enough in its instrumentation and arrangements to make room for
glockenspiel, "orchestra bells," and "boy choir" (featuring the aforementioned
Mr. Oberst), but the overall feel is smarter, sharper, finer, fuller. Newly
introduced layers of technical doo-daddery add welcome heft without getting in
the way of the songs’ natural sense of momentum — as Spectacular Views,
My Slumbering Heart, and the crackling title track well attest. Though
Rilo Kiley’s lead-vocal duties are technically split between Jenny Lewis and
Blake Sennett, it’s Lewis who gets the lion’s-share — her voice is cool, crisp,
and Neko Case-esque in the very best sense. Sennett’s pipes almost can’t help
but pale by comparison, but he holds his own on the charming So Long, and
his consistently supple, understated guitar work positively shimmers, first
track to last. Finally, be sure not to miss the genial ether-greeting Hail to
Whatever You Found in the Sunlight that Surrounds You — which sounds like
nothing so much as a long-lost interlude from Hair — its bittersweet
strum and Birkenstock stomp taking a brief, free-love tumble in the ganja-grass.
Cue the flower children! Let the sunshine in! Orgify!
At this very moment, some new musical artist or group may be on the verge of
breaking out big in a city near you. A Milli-Vanilli cover-band from Atlanta or
Dallas? An Arkansas power-pop trio that eschews verse-chorus-verse for hog-calls
and xylophone solos? An eco-folk fusion duo from Decatur whose entire canon
consists of Have You Ever Seen the Rain?, Who’ll Stop the Rain?,
and a goosebump-inducing, call-and-response rendering of the Carpenters’
Rainy Days and Mondays? Well... who can say? Only time will tell.
But, for now: All hail Rilo Kiley! All hail Omaha!  ½
The Execution of All Things is available
from Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
Click Here!
For UK orders, please Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2003
The Music Box
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