... one of those nights that totally reminds you why we do what we do - seeing Rilo Kiley at the Trocadero. Jenny Lewis and the guys shaped a set that was filled with drama, humor, anger, suspense, beauty, passion - oh, I could keep listing adjectives... I first heard of Rilo Kiley about 3 years ago when they released The Execution of All Things on Saddle Creek, the label of Bright Eyes, etc... and something about the record really resonated with me. First there's Jenny's voice - somewhere between Liz Phair, Chryssie Hynde, Carol Van Dyck (Bettie Serveert), and Karen O - edgy, but with a sweetness that also harkens back to '70s AM Country pop a la Loretta Lynn. In short, she's the sexy librarian with the knowing voice/lyrics but minus the negativity... maybe she's a modern day Karen Carpenter, I don't know - but tonight, she and the rest of the band was on a peak - taking the sold out Troc crowd for a journey into American music... I heard twinges of gospel and soul mixed with the whitest of white - country and indie rock... and - they had fun, and could play the shit out of their instruments. The fact that the show was sold out, the fact that the more you hear their new album More Adventurous the better it sounds, the fact that as of right now I'm putting "Portions For Foxes" into heavy rotation... it all adds up to me knowing that as Cornershop once said, the good shit is on the way... get the album, and get there early when you go see Coldplay in August, cause Rilo Kiley has graduated from indie-dom and will be opening for Mr. Paltrow later this summer...

Jim Mcguinn