Rilo Kiley

[August 29th, 2007] [SWEET ’N’ SOUR ROCK] When Rilo Kiley played Portland’s now-defunct Nocturnal in September of 2004, the crowd knew—and sang—every word coming out of frontwoman Jenny Lewis’ mouth. The sweaty and enthusiastic capacity crowd made for a transcendent performance. It also inspired Lewis to dub Portland the band’s new favorite city.

At the time, Rilo Kiley was known for alternatingly sweet and sour, complex rock tunes that revolved around frontwoman Jenny Lewis’ clean, country-affected vocals and the occasional guitar solo.

The three years since have seen Rilo Kiley developing a wider, more orchestrated pop sound with its major-label debut, More Adventurous , and cashing in some of its major-label chips on the more radio-ready and playful fourth album, this year’s Under the Black Light . The album’s lead single, “Moneymaker,” emphasizes the seedy side of L.A.’s glitz and glamour while simultaneously exploring a (hopefully short-lived) new disco-funk direction for the band.

Those having trouble accepting Rilo Kiley’s ever-expanding sound should note that Lewis’ songwriting—brokenhearted ex-girl stories and confessionals from a fucked-up child-star upbringing (she played characters on Mr. Belvedere , Growing Pains , even Golden Girls )—has remained strong, along with her flawless, emotive vocals. And such key elements of Rilo Kiley’s sound ring true regardless of the band’s sonic experimentation, the meatier chunks of Under the Black Light notwithstanding.

And Rilo Kiley shows are always lively affairs wherein the band gets the most mileage possible out of its sing-alongs (to a true fan, every song is a sing-along) and guitar freak-outs. It becomes evident pretty quickly that Lewis and guitarist Blake Sennett (who also spent some time in front of the camera as a kid) still have a little drama left in them: Lewis looks near tears during the sweeter numbers and Sennett hams it up whenever he gets a chance to steal the spotlight. Guess you can take the band out of L.A., but you can’t take the L.A. out of Rilo Kiley—and who would want to?