An open request for an apology

Dear Jenny Lewis, Blake Sennet, Jason Boesel (sp), and That Bassist Who Looks Like He's 45 Or Something,

Let me just start by saying that I'm one helluva Rilo Kiley fan. I know that by this point in my life I should have moved on from that high school Compisition Book Confessions, whispery-type rock, but I'll be damned if I don't admit that The Execution of all Things made me tear up on multiple accounts, that I overlooked the commercial intentions of More Adventurous for the sake of "A Man, Me, then Jim" and "Does He Love You?", and that for a while I had one of my favorite lines from The Initial Friendship EP as a headline for my LiveJournal account ("aw fuck it, here's your love song"). And I really wish I knew what the Frug was. I bought into it all--the sunny California attitude with that L.A. tongue-in-cheek, Jenny's ridiculous itty-bitty dresses, Blake's beyond-sleazy moustache, the fact that you opened for fucking Coldplay. Why? Because you guys write damn good songs, that are perfect for screaming or just listening to in the backround, or laying on the couch with the headphones on. And they're coupled with catchy melodies that are sometimes beyond cute, and sometimes subtle enough to suggest the tragedy implied.

So yeah, when I found out about Under the Blacklight, I got excited. Last we heard of any of you, Jenny had just put out the impressive but sometimes faltering Rabbit Fur Coat with the Watson Twins (who are, by the way, creepy) and Blake had put out Sun Sun Sun with this band called the Elected, who I don't really like that much. Sorry. From the photoshoots that accompanied the album, y'all seem to be going for some sort of hardcore indie gangsta thing, or maybe a Vegas magic act. In any case, there's a different tone suggested from the start: that Rilo Kiley is going to be-gulp-more than just soft vocals and trebled guitars and hi-hats. Your website, which hadn't changed since More Adventurous, was suddenly nothing more than a blacklight that, when clicked, revealed the album title and cued a repeating bass track. Weird.

I was scouting for anything new on OiNk (so sue me, I download sometimes), and I happened to come across Single Number One, which you had titled "The Moneymaker". The song starts with the bass riff from the website (it all made sense), and then turned into, um, rock. It was as if you'd turned the amplifiers up. Or on, for that matter. Of course, the song isn't bad per se. It's just not you, R.K. I mean, there's nothing ironic about it. The chorus is "uh uh uuuuuh, yeeeaaaaah", and there's, like one hook in it.

In any case, I wasn't completely disappointed in the song. I appreciate artists seeking new avenues of expression. Conor Oberst did it with techno, right?

So about a week after that, I found another track from the album (not leaking your entire album at once, by the way, is frustrating. How else will I know it's worth contemplating buying?), this one called "Dreamworld". The torrent site warned me that it was a Blake track, so I was prepared--Blake, honey, I hate to tell you, but your voice is whinier than Jenny's--to roll my eyes and skip over it. But, despite the Whine, it sounded better than "The Moneymaker". It's definitely a Rilo Kiley track--a little differently produced, yeah, but still it would have fit in on any of the previous albums. Once again, however, the lyrics were almost awful. It's like you guys are basing your songs on the episode of Gilmore Girls where they go to Seattle to meet the cast of Grey's Anatomy.

But you know what? Those two tracks are excusable. They aren't god-awful, and More Adventurous had "It's a Hit" and "Portions for Foxes", and I still dig that album.

There's no excusing what came next. I had expected "Give a Little Love" to sound like "The Good that Won't Come Out", or one of your typical unrequited-love-that-could-be-real-but-we-aren't-trying-hard-enough songs. But this. This. It's a bad Go Go's B-Side from 1985. It's something that they wrote for a Disney Channel movie that some Mandy Moore knockoff sings. It's fucking terrible, Jenny, and I didn't even give it the benefit of the doubt and listen to it twice, like I did with Cassadanga and Icky Thump, and I'd take any of the songs on those albums stuck in my head for the rest of my life then have to give "Give a Little Love" a little love. What did you use, GarageBand 1.1 to get those beats? Do you actually say something like "You've got your troubles/I've got mine/On a clear day/I can read your mind"?? You don't need to make a radio-friendly song, because the radio sucks, and you damned well know it. I hate to break it to you, but I really can't forgive it. You might as well appear in a McDonald's ad dressed as Chicken McNuggets. Christ.

The album is due to drop on the 21st, which (if you guys were too busy taking stupid pills to notice) is next Tuesday. Maybe I'll go to Wal-Mart and pick up a copy. Lemme ask, is it called Under the Blacklight because you're music is so drained of emotion and life that its pale face can only be seen Under the Blacklight? That's the only explination I can think of. Oh yeah, and its not gonna be available on LP, which means goodbye indie cred. Hope you care.

For now, I'll just be sitting and telling myself that you only released/leaked those songs because your record company told you to, and the real gems are on the album itself, just waiting to be heard. Because, you know, that's ALWAYS how it works.

Very little love to give,

Meg