The Amazon.com people know me so well that I receive emails from them on a regular basis. The subject line of their most recent missive was “Troy Headrick: 100 $5 Albums.” It was the $5 part that really grabbed my attention (as it usually does). I clicked on it and then browsed…
While perusing, I saw this CD called “Under the Blacklight,” by Rilo Kiley, a group I hadn’t heard of before. It was the cover art–a photograph of four people sitting on a bench against a dimly lit wall–that got me to take notice. I assumed it was a pic of the band (and I was right).
I listened to all the thirty-second samples and was immediately sold. I now own the entire CD, one of the best five-buck purchases I’ve made in quite a long while.
I wanted to embed the video for “Silver Lining,” the opening track on an eleven-song collection, but the band has disabled the embed function, so you can find it here instead.
The video opens with a quick shot of Jenny Lewis, the lead singer and owner of a million-dollar voice. The other members of the band are Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder, and Jason Boesel. Unfortunately, the group’s website is pretty minimal, but information on Rilo Kiley is available if you determinedly use your Google finger.
I did just that and found this description of the band on the Barsuk Records site:
“With a sound that veers from the acoustic simplicity and poetic lyricism of coffeehouse folk to the bouncy, lo-fi appeal of D.I. Y. indie pop, this California quartet writes melodies so damn catchy, you might almost think you’ve heard them before.”
I’d say that’s a pretty good description. I’d also like to add that the lyrics are super clever. In fact, if you’re like me, you’ll find yourself searching for them online. In the “Silver Lining” video, you’ll marvel at the play on the words “silver” and “gold” and then the sudden, unexpected twist toward the conclusion of the song/video.
Happy listening!
