Review: Jenny Lewis’ “Acid Tongue”

“Acid Tongue” is Rilo Kiley front-woman and former child-star, Jenny Lewis’ second release under her own name.  Unlike her last album, “Rabbit Fur Coat,” this album does not feature vocal accompaniment from the Watson Twins.  Instead, this time Lewis surrounds herself with an all-star cast of well-known characters like Elvis Costello, Jonathan Rice, M. Ward, Zooey Deschanel, Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes and others.  Together, they’ve made a timeless, rootsy, country-tinged rock record.  As a member of Rilo Kiley, Lewis has established herself as one of the finest songwriters in the current crop of indie rockers.  (See last year’s excellent “Under the Blacklight” or “More Adventurous” from 2004.) Her solo records have been less pop-driven, though, channeling her talents into earthier sounds. “Acid Tongue” expands and bests the sounds first experimented with on “Rabbit Fur Coat.”  It’s obvious that Lewis has been listening to classic country, blues and folk music.  She has a classic method of telling a story and telling it well.  She leaves the listener gripped on her every word.  The album opens with “Black Sand,” where she sings in a hauntingly, whispery high voice, “I fell in love with a beautiful boy on the black sand.”  The piano chords along with her in a slow, almost gospel-esque progression. She often uses a blues-like method of song formulation.  Often lines are repeated for effect.  In this age of sub-par pop, her talent, strong voice and old-school approach are downright refreshing.  A string section adds emotional weight to the song towards its end.  One can imagine everyone from Joni Mitchell to Rickie Lee Jones singing a song like “Pretty Bird,” Lewis and her backing band  make what could have easily been a reflective folk number a little funkier than expected, Her voice is a soulful, expansive instrument.  It can be really high and quiet one moment and knock you over with its strength the next.     On this track, she remains somewhat muted, only every now and then rising above an intimate whisper.  The song is a pleasurable walking blues and features a killer guitar solo from M. Ward.  “The Next Messiah” is a near-nine-minute, multi-sectioned slice of earthy blues rock.  If you want proof that Lewis is a dynamite writer, pay close attention to this track. Led by a electric, fuzzy riff that equally recalls George Thorogood  and Jack White, the track tells the story of a “pregnant lamb and a con-man.” The song changes tempos multiple times, at one point employing a slow near disco, funk-ified bounce.  Lewis employs guest vocalists like Jonathan Rice, Zooey Deschanel, Chris Robinson and Benji Hughes.  The whole track is a mind-blowing concoction.  After flexing a louder blues muscle, Lewis returns to the quieter tone used on “Pretty Bird” to perform the equally appealing “Bad Man’s World.”  Strings punctuate the chorus as she quietly, repeatedly sings, “It’s a bad man’s world.”  The drug-referencing title track sounds a like a cross between the Band and Bobbie Gentry with such quotable country lines like “I went to a cobbler to fix a hole in my shoe. / He took one look at my face and said ‘I can fix that hole in you.’”  It’s the kind of record which could’ve been recorded forty years ago and would’ve sounded exactly the same.  Lewis pumps up the volume and revs up her energy on the roadhouse-romp, “See Fernando.”  It’s a hard-rocking, hard-drinking, show-stopping stomper. “If you want to go where they chain up the sun, / See Fernando. / He’ll buy a bottle of suds for you and everyone. / See Fernando.”  It very well could leave you awe-struck with its greatness. “Godspeed” is a piano ballad about a downtrodden friend.  Lewis sings, “Godspeed to you. / Keep the lighthouse inside,” as a means of encouragement.  Elvis Costello shows up for the country-blues-rock duet, “Carpetbaggers.”  The song sounds a little like Tom Petty’s “Apartment Song” during the verses.  Lewis winkingly declares that she’s trouble by singing, “I’m gonna treat you kind. / I’m gonna rob you blind.”  Lewis and Jonathan Rice famously worked with Costello on his fantastic album, “Momofuku,” earlier this year.  In different hands, “Trying My Best To Love You” would’ve been an overdone soul love-ballad.  Lewis gives the song quiet dignity.  As a vocalist, she knows the exact vocal level to give each song.  Her delivery is almost always near perfect.  The inclusion of an all female chorus including Zooey Deschanel gives the song a bit of classic girl-group energy. A standout with soulful piano-playing, pounding, powerful drums and some great guitar-work, “Jack Killed Mom” is the ballad of a kid who murders his mother.  Again, the description has a gospel feel, mixed with a late Beatles sound.  Benji Hughes delivers a distinctive spoken-word section. In classic murder-ballad form, there’s a bit of remorse as Lewis sings, “Oh Mom, I loved you, / I didn’t mean to set you free.”  I bet the White Stripes could’ve done an equally enthralling cover of this if the lead character wasn’t named Jack.  For Lewis, tracks like this should be career-making gold.  As she unleashes her full-throttle voice, it’s evident that she just may know it, too.  The album closes with the relaxed “Sing a Song For Them,” where she repeats the phrase, “If you sing a song, sing a song for them.”  She then lists multiple groups which make up “them.” (“To the never-made-its and the unrecognized. / To the alley rats and tenement flies. / To the weekend tweakers, the blond and the blind.”)  As it is the end of the album, it sounds like she is saying goodbye to everyone.  It’s almost like she is taking a bow. “Acid Tongue” is one of best albums of the year so far. Jenny Lewis is indeed one of the best songwriters of her generation.  Her skills have frequently been championed, but this album should truly cement her status.