Rilo Kiley
(and Jenny Lewis is up next- she gets her own post)
What a a bunch of badasses! I was originally roped into loving Rilo by the Album More Adventurous, which remains my favourite of theirs. They could accurately be called the band that first won my heart (after the classics, but that ought to go without saying). I received it with a bunch of albums (among them Bright Eyes' I'm Wide Awake It's Morning and The Postal Service's first album) at Christmas, but I didn't listen to it for a good three months... and when I did, I didn't like it. I was just coming out of my middle school mainstreaming phase, so anything without an infectious beat and faux-claps was pretty much an F-minus in my book. But one day, on one fateful car ride, I popped the CD into my walkman to give it a second try.
What followed was an affair of love and betrayal, and of reminiscence and lingering affection. I started out loving the singles (as usual), but by the time I'd listened to More Adventurous so many times I could recite all the lyrics by heart, I loved all the sings. My top picks nowadays are the title track ("More Adventurous") and the last, "It Just Is".
I recommend the group's younger records, as their newest (Under the Blacklight) was a disappointment to me, though it had some good tracks. While it maintains some of their blunt and artistic style, it has some seriously disco undertones that don't agree with me. After giving More Adventurous a listen, I definitely suggest the album that came before it, The Execution of All Things. This one and their first feature Blake Sennett more prominently as one of the lead singers as well- I prefer Jenny, but some of his emotive qualities better fit the songs.
Okay, I've rambled, so I'd best sum up their music quickly. While they lack the harmonies I'm so fond of (which Jenny make sup for on her solo albums), they have solid rock vibes in addition to some really affectionate-sounding acoustic bits. Their lyrics are also fantastic, very story-like, are rarely fail to inspire some thought. The thing I think I love most about their style is how innovative it first sounded to me. Though it may be a staple nowadays to include odd synth over a more classic sound, I feel that even if they didn't do it first, they did it best.
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