Sound bite: "Rabbit Fur Coat"
By Daily Bruin Staff
Jan. 25, 2006 9:00 p.m.
Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins “Rabbit Fur Coat”
Team Love Records
It seems when people who have a self-proclaimed
“eclectic” taste in music are asked what they listen to
regularly, they often respond with something like, “Oh, I
listen to everything ““ except country.” But that may
change with Jenny Lewis’ twangy solo album “Rabbit Fur
Coat.” Lewis has temporarily stepped away from her three male
counterparts who make up the indie-pop powerhouse Rilo Kiley, and
teamed up with gospel singers The Watson Twins to produce a set of
songs that resembles what one might imagine singing along to with a
group of friends after church ““ intimately sad, sardonically
playful, and simple, catchy melodies to carry it all through.
Starting with the opening tracks, Lewis immediately demonstrates
her finesse with powerful narrative lyrics, with which she tells
stories about everything from her family life, political views and
fame to her struggles with love and faith (or more often, her lack
thereof). “First I’ll build a sword, get some words to
explain/It’s a plan, brother, at least/and I’ll pretend
that everybody here wants peace,” she sings on “Big
Guns,” an example of the implicit antiwar theme to which she
returns throughout the album. On “Big Guns,” the
Silverlake-based Watson Twins provide an open and engaging backup
part which introduces a gospel-influenced, call-and-response
atmosphere. Their additions complement and add warmth to
Lewis’ vocals, though they fail to appear on several of the
songs. The collaborative aspect of the album continues with a cover
of The Traveling Wilburys’ “Handle with Care,”
which features a triumvirate of indie-rock musicians reprising the
parts originally sung by Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Jeff Lynne,
respectively: Ben Gibbard from Death Cab For Cutie, Connor Oberst
from Bright Eyes and folk singer M. Ward. The song is one of the
album’s more upbeat moments, complete with harmonization, a
harmonica and a cowbell. All of the songs on “Rabbit Fur
Coat” function around the vocals, turning the vintage
country-folk instrumentation that accompanies them into very much a
secondary emphasis ““ at times, at the expense of the song as
a whole. The title track, for example, features all of the lyrical
themes the album introduces, and is poignant to say the least, but
only if listeners are willing to pay attention to the repetitious
vocal line. Rather than judge Jenny Lewis on the strength of her
work with Rilo Kiley, or on the album’s genre of choice, one
should take “Rabbit Fur Coat” for what it actually is:
an album which reflects the artist as her own person with her own
sound and her own message. In that light, standing independently,
Lewis makes country music hip again.
““ Kiran Puri
