Jenny Lewis
Acid Tongue
(WARNER)
Jenny Lewis has been accused of saving her best songs and why shouldn’t she? As a solo artist, she has to fend for herself; in a band, in this case, Rilo Kiley, she’s only responsible for one-quarter of the awesome and has been providing about three times that since the band’s inception. Under the Blacklight, RK’s last LP, was a disappointing, shallow foray into disco, but a handful of songs hinted at the ’70s country that comes roaring to life with vigour and style on Acid Tongue, the follow-up to Lewis’ 2006 neo-classic debut Rabbit Fur Coat. It starts with a bad bounce, lyrically and vocally, on “Black Sands,” but kicks into overdrive by track three, the almost nine-minute “The Next Messiah,” a story-song about a con man and a waitress “who thinks she’s an artist,” sung as a call-and-response between Lewis and special friend Jonathan Rice. Longtime RK fan Elvis Costello shows up on the title track—a gorgeous and simple ballad about coming to terms with loneliness—and the post-war jam “Carpetbaggers.” Where Rabbit Fur Coat questioned faith, Acid Tongue spins down-home Americana tales of crime, lust and on closer “Sing a Song for Them,” hope. If this is the kind of material Lewis can produce on her own, Rilo Kiley should respectfully step off and let her go.
—Tara Thorne
categories: Coast pick
This article appears in Oct 2-8, 2008.