Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue(Music review by Paula Felps as posted on Walmart.com)About The Album
As remarkable as her debut album, Rabbit Fur Coat, was, Jenny Lewis manages to outshine it on the delicious follow-up, Acid Tongue. Packed with hooks and imagery that is to die for -- literally, in some cases -- the Rilo Kiley frontwoman swings through a wide range of moods and melodies with a little help from her friends. It's a completely different album than her debut, and not just because it's missing the harmonies of The Watson Twins. The 11 songs that unfold on this disc are vivid and often visceral; the opening cut, "Black Sand," sounds as if it would be right at home in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This dark song combines crisp pop with an ethereal feeling to create a sound that's both haunting and intoxicating. She is slow and moody on "Pretty Bird," but then jumps into some powerful guitar-powered rock with "The Next Messiah." With an opening that feels a bit like ZZ Top on adrenaline, this song delivers nearly nine minutes of exceptional musicianship behind a tale that changes tempos as it unfold. It begins by telling a gritty backwoods fable, then picks up some speed as it becomes a free-flowing jam. By its end, it bears little resemblance to the song it began as, but by then, the listener has enjoyed the ride so thoroughly that it doesn't really matter where it all started. Along the way, she is joined by Zooey Deschanel and Chris Robinson (The Black Crowes), among others, to add to this fantastic aural experience. Robinson also chimes in on the title track, which is a hopeful look at dubious love, but it is her track with Elvis Costello that steals the show. "Carpetbaggers" is a lively track that feels like a Costello cut even before he chimes in. It has a festive feeling as it unfolds a tale about living a life of complete deception -- and not feeling a bit of guilt. The lack of guilt is also seen on the fantastic "Jack Killed Mom," another versatile song that tries on a couple of different moods during the course of five and a half minutes. The musical vibe is part gospel and part countrified rock; the message manages to mix biblical references and patricide in an extreme case of dysfunction. It's a disturbed song and also happens to be one of the catchiest cuts on a disc that's at no shortage for such a thing. But it's not all clouds in Lewis' world; on "Trying My Best To Love You," she is optimistic and downright dreamy. And on the album's closer, the sweet, benediction-like "Sing A Song For Them," she delivers a reminder that there's only a thin line between the haves and the have-nots. So she offers up this blessing that embraces the failed and the faltering in a tender hug. It's the simplest song on the album, but also the sweetest and perhaps the most meaningful. Lewis has proven herself to be a razor-sharp writer with a versatility that leaves the listener unable to predict what she'll deliver next. The only thing to do is to sit back and expect the unexpected.
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