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[review]
(from Newsday)
For Rilo, It's Just A Matter of Time
By Glenn Gamboa
STAFF WRITER
July 30, 2003
MUSIC REVIEW
RILO KILEY AND M. WARD. Get used to it, gang, you're going to be
huge. Old-school, indie-rock collaboration brings newfound success to
promising up-and-comers. With Statistics. At Bowery Ballroom,
Manhattan, on Sunday.
Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett - Rilo Kiley's creative core - looked
at each other in disbelief. The crowd, you see, was going berserk and
frankly, they seemed a bit uncomfortable with it.
Lewis was singing "A Better Son/Daughter," an indie-rock affirmation
spurred by stress and guilt that ends with the pep talk, "Your
ship
may be coming in, you're weak but not giving in." When she finished,
she didn't know how to react to the wild cheering, so the quartet
plunged quickly into the next song.
"We never do two encore things," Sennett said, after the
band was
called back for a second time. "Most people are sick of us by now,
so
thanks a lot."
Since the quartet released its second CD "The Execution of All
Things," built mostly on the unique vocals of Lewis and the driving
guitarwork of Sennett, it has been tagged as a possible breakout
band. The shows on this current tour should seal the deal for the Los
Angeles band, which has gotten tied into the whole Omaha scene with
bands such as Bright Eyes thanks to its deal with Saddle Creek
Records.
Onstage, Lewis seems ready to pick up the indie-rock queen title that
Liz Phair is so eager to abandon. Like Phair, she has that world-
weary little girl voice. She can swear like a trucker. And like
Phair, at least until recently, she sings intricate, passionate songs
about life from a strong, female outsider point of view.
"With Arms Outstretched" is typically ambitious, a sing-along
about
new relationships, empowerment and mountain climbing that turned into
the evening's highest of high points, as the giddy crowd sang and
clapped like it was joining the band in the "promised land"
Lewis was
singing about.
What made Rilo Kiley's 85-minute set even more impressive is that it
came after it played as the backing band for M. Ward. The Portland,
Ore., singer-guitarist calls his work "guitar- based music,"
which
may almost cover his fascinating "The Transfiguration of Vincent"
(Merge) CD. It is, however, a drastic understatement when it comes to
describing his live show, like calling an LIE rush-hour pile-up
a "slight inconvenience."
Ward's brand of revamped electro-blues and alt-country rave- ups
comes to life with the extra musicians and his compelling, gravelly
vocals, usually sung hunched over or at a right angle to the
microphone. Though his songs are elaborate, image-rich affairs,
especially the wrenching "Undertaker" and "Helicopter,"
it is Ward's
cover of David Bowie's "Let's Dance," delivered as a desperate
Dylanesque dirge, that gets the most attention in his 45- minute set.
Statistics, featuring Desaparecidos founder Denver Dalley, opened the
show with a short, 30-minute set of atmospheric songs from its
promising eponymous debut EP. The Omaha-based trio shows that more
winners from that scene are on the way.
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