Jenny Lewis – Acid Tongue
I’m having a hightly schizophrenic time listening to this album. In the manner of a strident PTA mother slightly out of her depth amongst intelligent people who have been thinking and talking about much bigger issues for years, I find myself struggling to form even the most rudimentary English sentence. No wait, maybe that’s someone else I’m thinking of. I’m just struggling to get my opinion straight.
I think my flip-flopping may be simply following the lead of the album itself, because it seems to be enormously variable. There are times when it is painfully bad – cod soul-rock from another era, lamely pastiched in this one. There are times when it’s bloody brilliant too – ballsy yet beautiful embodying that weird combination of spirited independence and girlish coquettishness that Lewis herself seems to exude.
She’s forsaken most of the gospel of Rabbit Fur Coat, and now explores a more rock ‘n’ roll direction, occasionally with real verve. See Fernando is terrific, but Next Messiah has great moments and really cringeworthy ones, epitomising the dichotomy of the whole album.
Amongst the slower stuff, there’s a lovely, easy soul to some of it, lush, intimate aspects to other bits and then irritatingly banal Radio 2 leanings to others. Godspeed is poor. Sing a Song For Them is one of the worst songs I’ve heard in ages. Imagine Michael Jackson’s worst Heal the World instincts dripping around a melody-free plod, with high school harmonies and power ballad guitar finishing off what little remains of your will to live – awful. But then, Pretty Bird and Black Sand are just lovely and Jack Killed Mom is rollicking.
I hate to say it but you’re on your own with this one people. Some of it’s great, some of it’s dreadful and I really don’t know what to make of it. Playlists, I suspect.
Jenny Lewis – Pretty Bird
Jenny Lewis – See Fernando
I’m having a Rilo Kiley off-shoots-shoot-out tonight. This versus Pierre de Reeder’s ‘The Way That It Was’.
Fun Friday nights. Or at least, I hope so.
You’re almost as sad as me, Gav. Well done!
No, no, my really hot girlfriend’s having a night out with her friends, my mates are out of town and I’ve smoked all my drugs. Honest.
Nope, don’t like it. What a disappointment. It makes ‘Under The Blacklight’ sound good. What’s happened lately? Rilo Kiley have made loads of amazing tunes. ‘Portions For Foxes’, anyone? I mean, how old does she think she is writing this stuff? Like, 60 odd?
If Pierre de Reeder is anything like this, I’m keeping the theme going with The Elected. Now that’s a good album (the second one).
Come on! She doesn’t even sound sexy any more!
To paraphrase her own line from this very album: Jenny Lewis – more cocktail waitress than artist.
I don’t give a shit about Jenny Lewis. All I’m sayin’ is I gotta get me one of them fuckin’ jetpacks! That shit is tight! Straight across the channel in 22 minutes.
- That Elvis Costello appearance was cringy.
- Good for booze cruises. Fly over top of customs too.
The Elvis Costello appearance was indeed painful. He married Diana Krall – the Queen of the Dismal Middle Class Dinner Party.
Shit. This is shit shit and more shit. At least she’s cute.
DAMN and BLAST – I really wanted you to say this was good. Shan’t buy it now, ner.
Like my opinion matters, Davy. There’s MySpace and the Hype Machine – you can always find out for yourself. I’d be a tad surprised if you loved it though. Sorry.
She sounds like a Sophie B. Hawkins tribute act to me.
Nevertheless, Jez menitoned she was cute; and I have to agree, she does have her charms.
Ah yes – never invite your drunken workmates back to your place after a night on the piss. They all become music critics all of a sudden.
Dylan I followed you linked and those definitely are not charms, they are breasts.
you linked = your link. Something was distracting me, clearly.
she’s hot. i forgive her anything that’s crap.
Me too, Euan.
If she can do that vacuum cleaner trick too she’ll be perfect!
I think she’s been getting a pass from indie boys like you two for far too long on this very basis. Apart from her previous solo album, she just isn’t very good.
Sorry, what? She sings too?
Actually, she does have an amazing voice, I will say that for her. I saw her live at the QMU in Glasgow a couple of years back and she was fantastic, as were the Watson Twins.
Is that what she calls them?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Thz2SOKkGI
but that’s the only album I have by her and it’s great. m ward on it. indie boy??? gtf!
I just mean that indie boys get a bit of a boner over the girl and their critical faculties go out the winder. Like Joanna Newsom.
yeah I’d throw her out a window.
I don’t buy the indie goddess shit one fucking bit. The arch homebody quirkiness of her whole ‘look’ is just by-the-numbers thrift store ‘kookie personality for under $5′ bullshit. I don’t think she’s attractive one bit. The fact she gets her legs out & bends over in short skirts just far enough to show a bit of gusset cloth for young indie spuds to get all frothy about is fucking depressing. Plus, she has an odd shaped head & light, downy hair all over her face. Not attractive, lads.
That said, she has a remarkable voice & can really belt her way through some tunes when she wants. I’m going to buck the increasingly popular trend round these parts & actually say I like this album. Not all of it, granted, but I think there are enough hits vs. misses on there to make it passable. I like the pastiches, the retro-nonsense. It shows a versatility. Plus, isn’t what she & Watson Twins did done the absolute retro throwback style?
Rilo Kiley? Who fucking cares? I never ‘got’ them one bit. I know they are a big college radio buzz band (again, she has tits & long legs – fuggineck she may even one day flash a bit of pink gristle for you to drool over… ’till then, keep buying the lacklustre guitar spasms, kids!), but the songs they play say nothing to me about my life.
I don’t anything by her, nor have I been to a gig to watch her. I just think she’s got a pretty face. couldn’t careless what she wears.
What is she, an ewok?
Well I wouldn’t be too far from that, DC. There just aren’t quite enough songs on this that I’ve really taken to to tip the balance in her favour. Not that it mightn’t happen with repeat listenings.
The whole coy girl image gets right on my tits actually, but it could easily be entirely genuine. A semi-pretty girl who has spent her whole life hanging around indie kids could easily develop a lot of those coquettish habits quite naturally, so I’m not saying it’s a marketing department put-on. Wherever it came from, it’s a bit annoying though.
The difference, in terms of the retro-burgling on this vs Rabbit Fur Coat, is that here she is resurrecting an re-interpreting a style I never liked in the first place. On Rabbit Fur Coat that was not the case.