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Rilo Kiley = Flagellation?

Posted at 9:11 PM on December 2, 2007 by Jacquie Fuller (10 Comments)

So, you know that song, "Breakin' Up," by Rilo Kiley? I have a relationship with that song that I have with no other song ever recorded. I'd call it a "love/hate" relationship, but it really goes deeper than that. When I say "love," I mean love like first kisses and the consummation of unrequited crushes and choirs of angels singing. And when I say "hate," I mean hate like murder.

No offense to anyone who loves this song--this is just my opinion--but every time I hear it play, I feel every cell in my body fill with loathing. Like someone just shoved a plateful of pickles under my nose. I'm thinking, "Who got a hold of one of my Intro to Creative Writing student's awful, maudlin love poems and set it to the kind of music I'd hear at Restoration Hardware?"

Ah, but then ...

What happens next is what perplexes me: I find myself singing, across the mountaintops and over the valleys, as if I had suddenly been transformed into one of the backup gospel singers in Madonna's "Like a Prayer" video: "Oooh, it, feels good to be fuh-ree!" And I surf the sweet, swelling wave of triumph over the heads of all the schmucks who ever broke my heart.

How can one song have such an effect on me? It's totally bewildering. I can't stand it ... yet, I can't get enough of it. If I were a monk, "Breakin' Up" by Rilo Kiley would be my hairshirt.

What songs do you have a love/hate relationship with? (Bonus points if they're played on The Current.)

Comments (10)

I think the thing about a good, catchy, infectious, pop song is that its lyrics almost have to sound a little lame. For instance try reading the lyrics to any of the songs of Pet Sounds (one of my favorite pop albums of all time) and not cringing.

On that note Cam'ron's song "Hey Ma" tops my love/hate list. It just so bad - but still I freak out whenever it comes up on the radio, or my itunes shuffle.

Posted by Theo | December 3, 2007 12:00 PM

Every time I hear that song it's like fingernails on a chalk board! Actually, when I hear ANYTHING from that album, it's the same reaction (especially "Moneymaker") Ewww!!!! Simply because the "catchy pop" whatever is so predictable and so awful! On Breaking Up I can almost hear the writer saying " and here's the bridge...Ooo, it feels good to be freee", while Jenny Lewis actually sings it a bit off key. Awful, awful writing. Terrible. Horrible!! Detest that album! Whoever gave Rilo Kiley the license to play terrible music just because Jenny has a beautiful voice should rescind it immediately! Even beautiful is bad when the music is!

Posted by Amy | December 3, 2007 12:15 PM

Rilo Kiley is one of the things that baffles me on The Current. I listen to the station because there is great innovative music I can't hear anywhere else. But Rilo Kiley is, frankly, disco, and not very good disco at that. The poetry is numbingly bland, the music could be written with a random melody generator, and when the group tries to "go deep" with editorial tracts like "money maker" the bathos is embarrassing and trite. Yes, The Current brings us obscure artists that won't get through the commercial filter, but someone has forgotton that some things are obscure for a reason: it's dreck.

Posted by Joe | December 3, 2007 12:18 PM

When I am teaching my class at the U, this is the point where I turn desperately and wide-eyed to my students and ask, "Rebuttle? Anyone?"

Posted by Jacquie Fuller | December 3, 2007 12:27 PM

No rebuttal. It's really dreck.

Posted by Joe | December 3, 2007 12:59 PM

I think it's time for a bathroom break, class.

Posted by Jacquie Fuller | December 3, 2007 3:03 PM

Could we please make a distinction between Under the Blacklight Rilo Kiley and pre-Under the Blacklight Rilo Kiley, which are two very different things? It sounds as though one or two people here are judging the band as a whole on the basis of their most recent album, which is an extreme departure from their previous work. Yes, I'm disappointed in the new album, too, but that's because I know and love the old Rilo Kiley. For example, give Portions for Foxes a spin. If it weren't for the distinct voice of Jenny Lewis, you'd never believe it's the same band.

Posted by Elizabeth | December 5, 2007 10:13 AM

"Under the Blacklight" is completely different than previous Rilo Kiley albums, which were more alt-country. I was rather disappointed on my first listen because it lacked their familiar "Saddle Creek"-ish sound, but it's fun to listen to when you don't analyze it. Isn't that one of the foundations of pop music?

New RK fans should check out "The Execution of All Things" or "More Adventurous" if they want to see what the band is really about.

Joe- your opinion is dreck because you can't spell forgotten.

Posted by Jess | December 5, 2007 10:37 AM

Yah, well, the U teacher couldn't spell rebuttal.

Posted by Joe | December 5, 2007 7:15 PM

Your tuition dollars hard at work.

Posted by Jacquie Fuller | December 6, 2007 2:52 PM

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