Breakin' Up (The Execution Of All Things - Rilo Kiley)

Member Name: Seres

Product:	The Execution Of All Things - Rilo Kiley
Date:	16/06/08 (90 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Rilo Kiley's finest hour

Disadvantages: Some of the songs, especially those sung by Sennett, are hard to get into

After the release of Take Offs and Landings, Rilo Kiley were a different band. No longer listening so extensively to Steely Dan and Fleetwood Mac, they began as a group to incorporate into their simple country sound elements of punk, rock, and pop music. At the same time, the band were mingling with the LA music scene, which included people like Conor Oberst, erstwhile front-man of Brighteyes, and producer Mike Mogis. As a result, the sessions for The Execution of All Things was more experimental than previous recordings, and music such as Velvet Revolver began to creep in as an influence. But at the same time, all was not well with the band. Dave Rock had left as drummer and Jason Boesel had come in - although without any real problems. However, Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett, the driving forces behind the band, had split up their relationship, Fleetwood style, and weren't sure if the band would be able to survive. Whilst the album was being made, they argued horribly, bitterly, and once they finished it, they took a break from each other, and the band. Blake went off to form himself a country band, The Elected, and Jenny didn't know if he was ever coming back. It seemed like Rilo Kiley were sinking before they'd got anywhere.

Which makes it all the more impressive that Execution is the record it is. 11 songs of swishy indie rock, it symbolises everything that Rilo Kiley are, and they have still to best it. From the grumpy opening "The Good That Won't Come Out" through to the power-drummed "Spectacular Views", it hurtles along with an intense urgency that is matched only by the thoughtful lyricism of Lewis and Sennett, and the melodies brought across in their mix of keyboards, guitars, and country drums. If you're looking for a sunny look at the world, this is probably not the album for you. If, however, songs about futility, break-ups and clinical depression are your bag, you've just lucked in.

The old-style country music that Kiley specialised in has morphed somehow into a crazy punk-country thing, with songs like "Paint's Peeling" and "Capturing Moods" being bleak signposts on the Road Of Pain. The latter in particular is one of the most accurate portraits of a relationship dissolving I've heard put to record, with the low, unhappy growl of guitars against each other, and Jenny pleading to herself "I don't mind wasting the best years of our lives" against Sennett, whilst strings flutter awkwardly in the background. "The Good That Won't Come Out" starts the album off in a disconsolate mood, with Jenny sounding like the female equivalent of Damon Albarn, miserable but eloquent in her despair. The keyboards on the track bob up and down, as the imagery of a girl and boy, sat on thin ice, is layered across to you. It's a witty, pithy reflection of what it's like to be nearing the end of a relationship, even if the song itself isn't something you want to listen to every day. Paint's Peeling and "The Execution of All Things" are both glammed up more in comparison, despite retaining the melancholy. Paint's Peeling sounds like a simple emo song, except that when you see the lyrics, there's much more than you'd usually expect from an emo band. Thar be metaphors afoot.

"A Better Son/Daughter" is my favourite track of the album, but many people will feel left on the outside by the message it carries. It's about manic depression. Track starts very quietly, with some keyboard and Lewis' vocals, and the guitar only gradually fades in. The first half of the song is mournful and self-pitying, but the mist breaks and we find ourselves in the middle of a power-anthem. After this song, however, the album picks up and snaps out of the morbid wanderings of the student mind (because I know you can't be too excited about the music so far) and bounces into gear. "Hail To Whoever You Found In The Sunlight That Surrounds You" is a bluegrass tune, surprisingly enough, with a sweltering pace that takes you to the American countryside (what there is of it), and carries away all thoughts of the previous bleakness as a breeze. It's nips along quickly, and is a nice thing to listen to. "With Arms Outstretched" also channels this vein, and is split into three sections. First, Jenny sings the words, then she does so again, accompanied by a bigger percussion arrangement, and when she makes her third pass at it - she's joined by a small male choir, who join along and turn the track into a small celebration.

Some songs straddle the divide between country and rock music, not least the ones that are sung by Sennett. Blake's very much an acquired taste, as his voice stretches rather whinily at times over the higher notes. He's not the best singer, bless 'im, and his songs tend to be simpler than Lewis' subtle, forceful writing. He has two tracks on the album, "Three Hopeful Thoughts" and "So Long", and neither leave much of an impression. They're nice enough, don't get me wrong, but they don't feel like they're going anywhere, although they do see some nice work from Pierre De Reeder, the bassist.

The two songs that you can write home about though, they would be "My Slumbering Heart", and the closing "Spectacular Views". Both are petrifying bursts of energy from the band that you wouldn't expect to hear, but the fact that they exist lift the album into another league. My Slumbering Heart in particular is a fine song, bopping along to keyboards and sweeping sequencing (which sound like long swishy things, if like me you don't know what a sequencer is). Then Jenny sings dreamily about.... a dream she had, and the guitars join the keyboards, bouncing along quickly as Jenny continues to talk about her dream for the future. Jenny, of course, is one of the finest singers in the American music scene today, and when she sings this song, you can picture everything she says perfectly. Her voice lilts a little, sounding a bit like Neko Case, all sweetness and light. Anyway, the guitars ramp up, and she starts putting force into her delivery, and then Blake shouts out "breakdown!" and then everything rips apart and Blake, jenny, and Pierre start scrapping their guitars together, in a tremendous moment.

As if that's not enough, the album closes on "Spectacular Views", which is wall-to-wall guitar-riffage. Well, keep things in perspective, it's not the Strokes, but there's still some powerful noise being made. Jenny sings with boundless energy, about that last holiday you had with your friends before you went off to university and lost contact with them. It's that great last trip you made, shrunk down into four minutes of music. Oh, and it features that Rilo Kiley trademark - unexpected swearing! Result.

One sour note on the album is "And That's How I Choose To Remember it" - you can hear this between tracks 4 and 5, 8 and 9, and finally after "Spectacular Views". It's a song which has been broken up into three sections, and it really detracts from everything else. If it was whole, it'd be a sweet, old-fashioned ode to childhood, but as it is - it irritates. However the three sections don't interfere too much from the rest of the album, which is, I have to say, 11 songs of the most jubilant and distressed, melodic and scratchy indie-pop you'll ever hear. It's at once uplifting and firmly set on the ground. From start through to end, it hooks you and is never less than ear-catching. But, with Rilo Kiley now on the rocks as a band, it looked like this would be their last hurrah. If that was to be the case, then it's a fine farewell to the band, who on this album were at their creative peak.

Summary: One of the most musically-charged, thrilling indie records ever made