Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue

2x 180-gram LPs
Gatefold packaging
Includes full-length CD
All-analog recording


Audio Quality: 4.75/5
Song Quality: 4.5/5
Packaging: 4.75/5


My dad doesn't like this album. He loves the Rabbit Fur Coat record that she did with The Watson Twins, and he should. It's a very well done folk-pop album, and The Watson Twins' harmonies are a gorgeous complement to Jenny's songs and voice. But he couldn't get into this Acid Tongue record, and when I told him (he's an avid reader of this humble blog of mine) that I was reviewing this over Rabbit Fur Coat, he just could NOT understand what my problem was. I do love Rabbit Fur Coat, and I will review that LP some time in the future, but Acid Tongue is a completely different album, both sonically and musically, that I find far more satisfying. Everyone is entitled to their opinion... but you're so wrong here, dad. PS: Happy birthday!!! Still wrong though.

From the opening notes of "Black Sand," you can tell that this will not be a repeat of Jenny Lewis' previous solo outing. It's soulful, bluesy, and even quite jazz-influenced at times. It was also recorded almost entirely live in the studio, with the whole band performing at the same time. It creates a great vibe, and it makes you feel like more like you're sitting in with the band than listening to a record. One clear highlight is "The Next Messiah," an almost 9-minute folk-blues number that goes through a few different themes before coming in for a landing. It's expertly written and wonderfully performed, and it's the shortest 9 minutes you will ever experience. Also exceptional is the title track, which features Jenny solo on acoustic guitar and voice, only joined by a choir of voices echoing small portions of the chorus. It's already a powerful song, and when those voices first appear and fill all sides of the audio spectrum, it's absolutely sublime. I really could point out something notable about every song, but one more deserves special mention, and it's "Carpetbaggers," which features Elvis Costello's unmistakable vocals blending perfectly with Ms. Lewis. It's an ultra-catchy up-tempo track that you'll be humming to yourself long after the album's conclusion. The rest of the album is full of great moments I'll let you discover on your own, from the gorgeous string arrangements in "Bad Man's World" to the beautifully minimal instrumentation and soaring vocals in "Black Sand" to the super groovy "See Fernando." It's all good here.

This album was definitely recorded to analog tape, with most performances captured live. As for the mixing and mastering, I cannot be sure of there being 100% analog purity here. However, many sources have indicated that this is what happened, so I've gone and slapped the "all-analog" tag on this review. Hopefully I'm not wrong. Either way, it sounds good enough to believe, so I'm going with it. There is a lot of intimacy in these recordings, and they make you feel like you're sitting in the live room in a similar way to Tom Waits' Mule Variations, though that record is the gold standard of intimacy and sonic depth in my opinion. It's not THAT good, but it's still very good. The beginning of "Acid Tongue" catches some accidental conversation just before Jenny starts the song, followed up with the audible sound of vocalists taking deep breaths and getting situated. It really makes you feel like you're standing in the circle with them, around the one communal mic, anxiously waiting to perform your quick harmonies at just the right time. "The Next Messiah" also has a loose quality, giving a feeling like you can see the band working their way through the track, making not entirely silent cues and nods toward the different musicians and vocalists trading duties as the song progresses. Vocal harmonies on "Trying My Best To Love You" (which features Zooey Deschanel of yesterday) also sound as if they were performed live in the room with the strings, an unusual recording technique that also adds to the cozy, friendly vibe that this record exudes. That intimate quality is lost a bit on some of the more aggressive rockers ("See Fernando," "Carpetbaggers"), but they too sound great in their own right. My only audio complaint here, which I highly doubt is Jenny's fault, is that my record is slightly defective. It looks like there's a permanent thumbprint on the inside of Side B that happened in production. I'm guessing this only happened to my copy, but it makes the last song on that side, "Godspeed," play back with a small little burst of white noise on top every time the record makes a rotation. That makes it unlistenable as far as I'm concerned. I've tried to clean it several times to no avail... but I'm sure I'll keep trying until it's fixed or I do more damage and wind up needing to buy another copy.


Nice gatefold package here, and it comes with the CD! Yes!! Thank you Jenny Lewis for giving the people what they want. When you open up the gatefold set, it has a nice collage of photographs from the recording process. The records are in generic white sleeves, and I think it's worth noting that, though this is a double LP, only 3 sides of vinyl are used. I guess they didn't need any more space, so rather than stretch the record out unnecessarily (which happens a LOT these days), they just let one side go. The back of the 2nd LP (Side D) is blank and has "Don't Drop This Record" written on it. Thanks for the tip. The CD is in a white slipcase tucked in with one of the LPs. Most satisfying.

I paid a lot of money for this set. The links I'll post below offer it for way less I wound up throwing down, so you really should buy this one. I'd also like to note that I'm not a fan of Rilo Kiley, Jenny Lewis' main project (ugh, it KILLS me to say that, but it's true), at ALL. I don't really understand how she can do something that mediocre as her primary work, and on the side in her free time, create such wonderful, inspired material. Frankly, it's a bit infuriating. But I feel exactly the same way about Ben Gibbard in terms of The Postal Service (excellent, and ironically Jenny Lewis sings quite a bit on that record) and Death Cab For Cutie (crazy mediocre). What is wrong with these people? Are they crazy? Or is it just me? Probably.

Buy the LP *ON SALE* at ElusiveDisc.com
Buy the LP at Amazon.com

Next week, we're unintentionally carrying over the Women's Appreciation theme!!!
Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You (Picture Disc)