As the Blues Explosion once said “DAMAGED!!!!!!!!!!”
So the Rilo Kiley concert was good times last week, especially when they went all 80’s with their new material. Even though the new songs aren’t as good as the classic heartbreaking alt-countryish tunes, the band seems far more excited by their discovery of Berlin albums.(Ok that sounds super harsh.) You’ll never hear me talk bad about Jenny Lewis though. I mean from the moment she gambled her bus ticket on a game of Double Dragon, I’ve always loved her.
But, at the end of the show, the famous Young Ceezy and I had a discussion about the show and it went a little something like this.(Paraphrase alert)
I:That was pretty damn awesome
C:Shit yeah it was.
I:But, something was missing. I mean Jenny Lewis was rockin, but she seemed to be missing something.
C:You’ve got to be kidding me. She seems really comfortable with herself and her stardom.
I: Exactly my point, I think it kind of fucks up the songs.
C: You just revel in singers being damaged, that’s all.
And you know what it’s true. While I had broken my proclamation of talking bad about Jenny Lewis, my point was simple, she’s content with where the band is at. Which as a longtime fan of hers, makes me happy. But, as a music fan, it destroys some of the power of those songs.(note, some not all there)
Of course this all goes back to ye olde Theorem of Madonna(seen in Ian Blog Vol 1. Post 5), where it says quite clearly that once the band loses that hunger, they have nothing to say. That’s not to say they can’t put out a good dance jam, pop song, or arena rock song, but the precarious line where art and raw emotion have been painted over with new glossy non lead based paint.
For example look at Cat Power. She’s a spokesmodel now for Chanel. Like Nicole Kidman. Like Paris fucking Hilton. C’mon. Didn’t this used to be the girl in the tattered jean jacket who could barely muster a word on stage let alone have her on personal catharsis on it? Long gone are the days of a Metal Hearts… Oh wait , she’s even rerecorded THAT song on her latest covers album in the most polished sitting at a Billy Joel piano way possible. She took a really interesting retro influenced song that sounded like Southern heartbreak at it’s worst and turned it into something as unemotional as her last soccer mom targeted album.(and before you attack me comments, I like that album ok, but I’ll be damned if it’s half as powerful as earlier album.)
What next? Joanna Newsom will decide to no longer sound like “away from his family in An American Tail Fievel”? Oh and she’ll only use the harp setting on a Moog Synthesizer from now on. Jaysis.
But, back to my original point, what made Jenny Lewis such a likeable singer is that she in fact was awkward and damaged at the same time. She wasn’t a rockstar or even a former child star, when she was singing all those assorted songs about heartbreak and that’s why you bought into em. No matter how well or poorly the songs are played(see Doherty, Pete), if you have the emotional catalyst to make the album/song feel like something unique or special, you have everything and if it fades, you got out not with a bang, but an overproduced soul sucking mess of a record.(again see Theorem of Madonna-Like A Prayer album section.)
I heart vids section:
In honor of that same red haired songstress
The Angry Video Game nerd does the Power Glove
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