Jenny Lewis
Rise Up With Fists!!

C’mon, face facts: Rilo Kiley really aren’t that great, and their pretty-of-face front-lady Lewis’s solo record – something about rabbits or something – was nothing to write home about, however wonderful the assistance provided by the Watson Twins. This, though, is a relative highlight from the aforementioned long-play release, a country-rockin’ flashback to busy Nashville boulevards, circa ’76; jukeboxes and whiskey and women and the realisation you’ve just done something really bad.

“You will wake up forty-five,” sings Lewis, telling those that live to excess exactly how it’ll pan out: take all the precautions you like – therapy, surgery – but time will wait for you, and if you trick it, it’ll have its way when you least expect it. Of course, what with this being pop music at heart, Lewis’s lyrics are entirely ambiguous – read your own meaning where and when prompted – and the music, while politely arranged and prettily executed, leaves a limited impression. Actually, what was that about this being a highlight?

Radio 2 should be all over this. While that’s no bad thing, and this isn’t a bad record by any means, such a fact should tell you that few lives will change as a result of hearing Lewis’s graceful but inconsequential tones.