Product Description

This is the second album from Southern California's Rilo Kiley. 'The Execution Of All Things' combines elements of indie-folk, country and mellow rock. The band have moved away from their pop-punk roots, concentrating on mature melodies and catchy folk inspired songs. Their debut album 'Take-Offs And Landings' was released in 2001.

Track Listing

1. Good That Won't Come Out
2. Paint's Peeling
3. Execution Of All Things
4. So Long
5. Capturing Moods
6. Better Son/Daughter
7. Hail To Whatever You Found In The Sunlight That Surrounds
8. My Slumbering Heart
9. Three Hopeful Thoughts
10. With Arms Outstretched
11. Spectacular Views

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5047 in Music
• Released on: 2003-05-19
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Some beautiful songs
Sometimes a moment makes a song. The bit in 'Paint's Peeling' when you realise Rilo Kiley have created the whole of the preceding two minutes twenty-eight seconds to build up to this, when the guitars crash into 'hey, how could you love me this way?' and everything explodes into a monumental wall of sound that takes you by surprise because nothing thus far has suggested they could make this kind of noise. The split second when 'The Good That Won't Come Out' morphs into a Bright Eyes song, with pounding drums, glockenspiels and bells and reverberating cymbals, and how the track is over far too soon after that transformation. The point in 'A Better Son/Daughter' when Jenny Lewis suddenly launches into 'and sometimes when you're on, you're really f**king on', and her voice almost cracks under the weight of the words 'you'll fight and you'll make it through' when you know she's only singing for herself, like you do when you sing along. It's beautiful. Actually, the whole thing is beautiful, from the breathtaking frankness, crushing and amazing at the same time, of opening a song with the line 'sometimes in the morning I am petrified and can't move', to the military drums that underpin every word, whether Lewis sounds softly content or on the verge of choking with angry tears.

The album isn't all perfect moments, of course. When guitarist Blake Sennett takes over vocal duties, the tracks sound like hastily-written filler, and the accusations of overt tweeness levelled at the band occasionally feel justified (see 'Capturing Moods'). But Rilo Kiley are much, much more than friends of Conor Oberst, or just another Saddle Creek band. They sound passionate about surviving, and manage to blend that idealistic enthusiasm and verve with the reality of bitterness and disappointment, singing of the literal execution of all things, revelling in 'loving things just because, like the sick and the dying'. Sometimes a few special moments make it worth sifting through the ordinary, and this (mostly) gorgeous album is proof of that.

Awesome
Absolutely incredible, one of my favourite albums of all time.
The style is much more experimental than their first album, Take Offs and Landings.
The lyrics are very thought provoking and cynical and the music is beautiful.

There Are No Bad Words For This Album Today
I first heard of Rilo Kiley through the "Saddle Creek 50" compilation (which I urge you to also listen to).

On it was "With Arms Outstretched" which hit me as a beautiful song and also "Jenny, You're Barely Alive" which shocked me as a woman like Jenny Lewis has such a beautiful voice but can deliver the most snarling lyrics with complete honesty.

I immediately sought out their albums and was suitably pleased and impressed.

Every song is excellent and Blake and Jenny have a definite knack for writing catchy pop hooks over angular, edgy guitars and melodious keyboards.

The songs that stand out for me are the opening track "The Good That Won't Come Out", "My Slumbering Heart" (with it's chorus to die for) and the album closer "Spectacular Views". These three songs really show the contrast that the album contains.

My only criticism lies with the 'special' track, "That's How I Choose To Remember It", which appears in snippets after various other tracks. Because it is only an excerpt it really cuts the album up and stops the flow of the songs.

Apart from that, this is one album that is never far from my CD player!