Review Summary: Rilo Kiley travel back to the 70's to locate their mojo, then set about showing it off to anyone who'll listen.
Under The Blacklight is a fantastic throwback record. Yes, that’s right: it’s a record, not an album. That’s an important distinction with a record of such classically sleek, apocalyptic ’70s L.A. coke-rock, in the fine Fleetwood Mac and Steely Dan tradition. It’s a soundtrack to the heady times gone-by, and they weren’t even there. Well they were, but just barely.
Under the Blacklight kicks off with Silver Lining, a bluesy lament that sets the tone for the rest of the album. It’s an impeccable balance of piano, guitar and gorgeous vocals. It’s a story about how a girl was the only silver lining for her man and that everything else in their life was rags,but grew tired of the pressure so she willed our love to die and now I’m gold. Close Call follows it up and has a similar feel, the guitar possessing a sleek twang and a simple, ‘clappable’ drum beat. It’s a terrific double-whammy that sets the scene for the coming 6 songs.
It’s a short album and would have been able to fit on one side of a vinyl, another nod to the fact that this is an album looking back to days long gone. It’s so short because he record is devoid of filler and that’s to their credit. Most albums have 11 or 12 tracks with an extra 1 or 2 ‘bonus’ songs. No such laxness from Rilo Kiley who are strict with the running time and manage to keep it under 30 minutes and it flies by with these relaxed summer songs folding into each other and expanding upon previous sounds climaxing with the synonymous cruiser Under The Blacklight.
Rilo Kiley is fronted by Jenny Lewis and her voice evokes a Portishead sense of vulnerability and naivety that really owes itself to a record such as this. The band also suffers from a great deal of Fleetwood Mac comparisons and whilst in perhaps that was detrimental to their success in the past as they shied away from it, on Under The Blacklight they embrace it and are able to move forward and give it a fresh 21st century twist.
My main criticism of the record is that it’s too safe. All the songs are similar to each other, and whilst no one is making music like this at the moment, this isn’t a carte blanche to simply repeat the same effects for the whole album. Jenny Lewis always seems to feel safer behind guitar and piano when a bare-bones ballad a la Videotape from Radiohead or Bats Mouth by similarly-voiced Bat For Lashes would add a varied pace and a new level of emotion to the record.
But on the whole Under The Blacklight is a success. An aspiration to the mainstream music scene it solidifies its base and expands without alienating them. Effectively it’s American Idiot to Green Days Warning. It’s just a huge shame it’s not as successful because this is great, care-free summer music.
