You may know Jenny Lewis as the frontwoman for the emerging indie rock band Rilo Kiley, or as a member of The Postal Service, Ben Gibbard's ubiquitous techno side project. You may even know her from her career as a child actress, appearing in '80s movies like 'Troop Beverly Hills.' Well, with 'Rabbit Fur Coat,' Jenny hopes to step out of all these roles and be known simply as Jenny Lewis.
'Rabbit Fur Coat' is being released on Team Love, a label run by Conor Oberst. This is especially fitting because in many ways, it resembles 'I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning,' the Bright Eyes album Oberst released almost exactly a year ago. Both are comprised of minimalist, traditional country songs, and both abound with deep ruminations about God and self-lacerating lyrics about love.
Each album also uses country conventions in extremely clever ways. While Oberst used back-up vocals by Emmylou Harris' well-worn voice to give his hipster-hillbilly ramblings some gravitas, Lewis uses the gospel-inflected crooning of the Watson Twins. They are a sublime addition. On 'Rise Up With Fists,' an indictment of hypocritical fundamentalists, they serve as a sort of Greek chorus, chiming in at key moments to amplify Lewis' most acerbic jabs. On other tracks, they provide simple backing croons that subtly increase the beauty of the tracks.
Lewis has always been a bright and sharp-tongued songwriter. Her writing on 'Rabbit Fur Coat' is, for the most part, no exception. She flips the Nashville tradition of singing about the Lord on its head in many of the songs. On one particularly sharp verse, she sings 'It's a surefire bet I'm gonna die / so I'm taking up praying on Sunday nights / and it's not that I believe in your all might / but I might as well as insurance or bail.' Lyrically, she makes a strong bid as the female equivalent of Conor Oberst, the indie poet laureate perpetually in the gutter but staring at the stars.
In addition to Lewis' musings, the record contains 'Handle With Care,' a cover of the boomer staple by the Traveling Wilburys, a late '80s supergroup including Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, George Harrison and Tom Petty. Lewis enlists the vocal talents of M. Ward, Conor Oberst and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie. The song itself is somewhat unexceptional, with everyone's vocal parts sounding spliced in from different sessions, like one of those ill-conceived 'All-star charity benefit sing-a-longs' that pop up every few years.
The track is notable mostly as a conversation piece, because it is the only one thus far to collect the four indie rock luminaries in one place. The choice of covering a group of rock 'n' roll immortals is also interesting, because it implies that these four have lofty goals for their legacies, and helps to solidify the emerging cultural stereotype of the 'indie yuppie,' ironic yet ambitious.
'Rabbit Fur Coat' contains flashes of brilliance amidst a fair amount of filler. The material is not quite varied enough, and the record begins to drag before too long. One southern soul song begins to bleed into another, and Lewis' voice blends into the background. Sandwiched between more propulsive numbers, her ballads with Rilo Kiley always seemed welcome and well executed. Yet without these more upbeat songs, Lewis is somewhat adrift, without the vocal charisma to keep us interested.
The record works well in small doses and offers ample evidence that Ms. Lewis is a songwriting talent. New listeners are best advised picking up a Rilo Kiley release for a better example of Jenny Lewis' sound, though.
