That sucking sound...

That sucking sound you hear is the existence of all music leaving my life! Well, not really. But, for some reason I have only been listening to one cd on repeat for the last two to three weeks. What album has my attention you may ask? (and thank you for asking)

 Rilo Kiley's "More Adventurous" is that album....and for some reason it's been the perpetual soundtrack for my life over the last few weeks.

I wake up in the middle of the night thinking I hear these songs. I probably dream with these songs as background noise. Now, I don't fall asleep with the album on which is the strange part.  But, for some reason. I can't get over the vocals of Jenny Lewis.

The album starts off with the upbeat "it's a hit" and runs right into the mellow "does he love you?" For some reason I can't listen to this song without laughing at the line "...and he's going out to California" Mostly because of the delivery of the work California by the brother in The Wizard (which also featured a young Jenny Lewis)

From there we rock it back up to "portions for foxs" and then it's Blake Sennett's haunting vocals on "Ripcord". Which is leads into the sultry voice of Jenny again on "I never".

Now we start hitting my favorite tracks on the album. "The Absence of God" and "Accidental Death" 

Toward the third or fourth refrain of the song you get the line,"All of your failures are training grounds". Which is a good line to remember. As you move forward in life your failures will help shape you as much as your victories..if not more.

"Accidental Death" deals with the little events that change you in large ways. One of the "accidental deaths"  mentioned in the song title deals with a young man killing a deer by accident. While this situation it was an actual accidental death...the song really deals more (IMHO) with the incidents throughout your life that define who you are and who you will become. Be they straight-forward though out plans...or the accidental ones.

By this point you should be seeing a pattern emerge. I know I did...

"More Adventurous" is by far the stand out track on the album for me though. While it is, upfront a love song...I hear more. To me it's more of an anthem to pick yourself up and move forward. Take what you had and let it lead you to what you will have next. Take what you've learned and grow.

The album rounds out with "Love and War (11/11/46)" which has my favorite line in the whole album, "when my gramdpa drank, fell and broke his face in two when the cops arrived he exclaimed I fought in World War Two!"  Not sure what the deal is with that line for me...but I always hit that line when singing along in the car. (what can I say...still a dork at heart).

"A Man/Me/Then Jim" a truly depressing song, at first glance, about going back to a high school friends funeral after he has committed suicide. The song opens with the line, "had one friend in high school recently he hung himself with string His note said, 'If livin' is the problem, well that's just baffling.' " Really, it doesn't get much happier from that point. You think it may become a song about revelations and seeing the good in a bad situation...but, not really. But, again Jenny's voice gets me every time.

The final track, "It Just Is" really kinda raps the mood of the second half of the album. "And this loss isn't good enough, For sorrow or inspiration, It's such a loss, For the good guys. Afraid of this life. That it just is

Cause everybody Dies." Take it at face value or take the whole album as an up and down trip through...well sorrow and inspiration.

All together you get an album that makes you sing along, think, mist up, get a little depressed, get lifted up a bit. Find hope and sorrow. Examine you life and past loves. All done without being to pretentious and in your face. No one is screaming at you...in fact even while helping us discover the obvious flaws we all face in our day to day lives...it's done with a sweetness through Jenny Lewis. (who right now is pound for pound one of the best singer/songwriters out there for my money...with Neko Case a close second or even tie for first!)

Even looking at each song I can't say why my musical fancy has been stuck on this album...but it is slowly rising up the ranks for my top album of MY year (even though it was released in 2004). I must again point a thanking finger at my musical guru Ryan. Brother man you have pointed me in the right direction more often than not...and Rilo Kiley is right near the tops of the "Thank God he told me" list.