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Rating:
August 2007. I am at Copenhagen Airport, waiting for the afternoon flight to Amsterdam, and as I wander through the numerous duty-free shops, I see, in the "foreign press" section, the latest issue of the British monthly "Uncut." Despite being quite skeptical about British music criticism, seeing the name Rilo Kiley on the cover, a band I loved back in their early days, I decide to buy the magazine. Inside, there is an extensive review titled: "The Californian indie quartet embraces mainstream pop". "Yikes," I think. Yet the rating for the new album, their first for Warner Bros., is five full stars. My hope is that Jenny Lewis & Co. have somehow returned to their former glory, but when I see the comparison with Fleetwood Mac, I start to shiver.
"Alright, 'Uncut' is run by an old boozy and gray-haired hippie who puts Neil Young on the cover almost every month, can't be trusted, better check it out myself," I reflect. Given my distaste for major labels, to which I don't give a cent by choice, I turn to Megaupload and soon the album in question is among the files on my computer. My opinion? Well, honestly, I don't find anything special about this CD, it seems just like an attempt to enter the Pop-Star-Olympus and neighboring territories.
"Breakin' Up" sounds like a disco music leftover from the seventies, "Under The Blacklight" opens with a loop that then transforms into a grand ballad reminiscent of Alanis Morrissette, "Dejalo" is even Latin-flavored, and "Close Call" seems like a probable chart-topping hit. Only "Smoke Detector", with its swirling guitar intertwines, saves something. Far be it from me to criticize an indie band just because they sign with a major, see Sonic Youth and Hüsker Dü who maintained very high levels in the past, or just think about the excellent recent works of Modest Mouse and Death Cab For Cutie, but this CD, produced by Mike Elizondo (50 Cent?! Dr. Dre?!) is nothing more than a slapdash attempt to join the MTV world covered in green dollar bills. And it's a real shame, guys. Try to get back on track, I still have some hope.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Close Call (03:20)
She was born on a Brighton pier
To a gypsy mother and a bucket of tears
Her good looks coulda sailed a ship
But her will alone coulda sunk it
Funny thing about money for sex
You might get rich
But you die by it
It's gonna be a close call
Gonna be a close call
Tell me now what would you do
Hanging back with the brutes
Hustlin' a pickpocket
That's no way to get rich
It's gonna be a close call
Gonna be a close call
Gonna be a close call
Gonna be a close call
Business woman with good sense
If you live at all, you're gonna die by it
Funny thing about money for sex
You might get rich, but then...
It's gonna be a close call
Gonna be a close call
Gonna be a close call
Gonna be a close call
06 Dreamworld (04:45)
she was the girl with the string around her neck
hanging with the boy who could only give her less
it could be more if she learned to never expect
and now she's her and him and then a baby next
the wedding bells won't ring, but she could care less,
how you exist, when you're living in a dreamworld.
he grew up drinking milk from the cow, from the farm
and was the trade his father's father's father's father
made him go givin' back to his country
he gave his both knees he's overseas to fight the disease
that's spreading fast over maps and it don't look back,
when you're living in a dreamworld.
it is a lie in science fiction reads
just like a child with its zeroes, ones, and three times
the size of the people who came before
me and you and what we'd do for money
this greed and jealousy turn to need
see, i'm a man with a plan to use my hands
touching yours, you're the girl who wanted more
likely the story has faded from love to lie.
the clover under your feet is shooting stars in the night.
the people under your feet are shooting stars in the night.
the people, all that you meet, they're living in a dreamworld.
07 Dejalo (03:16)
Dejalo, nuestra cosa
Dejalo, nuestra cosa
Dejalo, nuestra cosa
Dejalo, nuestra cosa
I got a mind if you wanna waste it
I got a man if you wanna fake it
I got some wine if you wanna get wasted
I got a place if you wanna...
Ready to go
Ready to go
Ready to go
Ready to go…
I got a tail if you wanna chase it
I got a tongue if you wanna taste it
I got a place on the East Side
I got some time if you wanna...
Ready to go
Ready to go
Ready to go
Just say so
Dejalo, nuestra cosa
Dejalo, nuestra cosa
Dejalo, nuestra cosa
Dejalo, nuestra cosa
My mama is an atheist
If i stay out late she don't get pissed
I got a place if you wanna go
I got some time if you wanna...
Ready to go
Ready to go
(When you're) ready to go
Just say so
She sleeps on your right side
She gets nailed, I get tied
I sleep on your left side
Hundred ways to keep love alive
Ready to go
Ready to go
Ready to go
Just say so
Dejalo, nuestra cosa
Dejalo, nuestra cosa
Dejalo, nuestra cosa
Dejalo, nuestra cosa
09 Smoke Detector (02:58)
My eyes burn, everybody smokes
My eyes burn, everybody smokes
I smoke too, but not as much as you
I do the smoke detector
There is a girl in a tank top
She is not wearing a bra
She looks so hot on the dance floor
She does the smoke detector
She says, "Danger
"Do the smoke detector"
She says, "Danger
"I'm the smoke detector."
I took a man back to my room
I was smoking him in bed
Yeah, I was smoking in bed
This is what he said
I took a man back to my room
I was smoking in bed
Yeah, I was smoking in bed
This is what he said
I said, "Danger
"Do the smoke detector."
I said, "Danger
"Do the smoke detector."
(Repeat!)
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