Rilo Kiley: More Adventurous

Herald rating: * * *

If Macaulay Culkin formed a band, you wouldn't rip out the black leather - former child stars don't exactly inspire thoughts of rock'n'roll. But two kid actors who have gone on to do good in music are Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett, whose LA band release their major label debut after 10 years around the indie traps.

Lewis has a stunning voice that's equal parts Liz Phair, Kelly Deal and Loretta Lynn, capable of soaring through the album's melancholic country ballads yet tough enough to deliver some of the more cutting lines. On the album's strongest pop moment, The Absence of God she sings "We could be daytime drunks if we wanted" and later warns she is "bad news".

Problem is, it's not always easy to believe her. RK's music veers from sweet, acoustic folk through breezy, intellectual pop and guitar rock to stripped back rhythm and blues, and for the most part the band play well-structured, clever pop for grown-ups. But occasionally the country moments get syrupy, the melodies sound too nice and Lewis comes on as a precious wordsmith, particularly on the band's odd attempt at new-wave that is Accidental Death: "You're obsessed with finding a new brain but what you need is a new body."

What you need, Rilo Kiley, is some edge.

Label: Warner