All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

The Onion (A.V. Club)

The L.A. quartet has returned with an album that's teeming with creatively executed ideas, to the point where it almost feels like the band was just using its first three albums to warm up.

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100

Uncut

Under The Blacklight is by far and away the most accessible album that Rilo Kiley have ever made.

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100

MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)

Terse and beaty, with Dr. Dre referral Mike Elizondo going half on the baby, this isn't a pop record, but it does avoid guitar-band shapes, sonics and truisms.

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Lost At Sea

Every one of the eleven songs attached to Blacklight is a stunner in purely musical terms.

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Blender

Creamy and precise, every coo and arpeggio blows through your ear buds like the ruffle of crisp bills.

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Spin

Lewis' wordplay smartly unspools over the course of a song--with 'Breakin' Up,' she creates a 'Since U Been Gone' for grown-ups, and on '15,' narrates an Internet jailbait vignette without melodrama or moralizing. [Sep 2007, p.132]

Billboard

Ultimately, the change in direction will likely raise a few eyebrows among some diehard fans, which isn't to say the songs here aren't noteworthy in their own right.

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musicOMH.com

Long-term Rilo Kiley fans may take their time to warm to Under The Blacklight.... This sees them develop their sound and mature with it.

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Q Magazine

On an album tat is filled with gems, Jenny Lewis is the crown jewel. [Sep 2007, p.85]

Slant Magazine

Some of these genre shifts work better than others, of course, but the record is so tightly constructed that nothing ever crashes and burns.

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Rolling Stone

It's yet more adventurous, a prosperous band's challenge to its comfortable cult.

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The New York Times

This album is a pleasant surprise disguised as an unpleasant one.

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Mojo

This band brings a grubby beauty to a sound imbued with the insidious durability of the Buckingham-Nicks Fleetwood Mac. [Sep 2007, p.105]

Village Voice

Under the Blacklight is a brief and often bizarre record, jiggling with artificial rhythm and awash in backup singers imported from 1981.

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Hot Press

Ahead of their Electric Picnic date, the LA rockers ditch their mainstream sheen on their fourth album.

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Under The Radar

Under the Backlight is a confident, assured move by a band unafraid of distancing themselves from the indie rock mopers. [Summer 2007, p.76]

Prefix Magazine

Under the Blacklight is at once more ethereal that anything Rilo Kiley has ever managed previously.

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All Music Guide

The rest of Under the Blacklight feels like the Jenny Lewis show and even if this album doesn't push Rilo Kiley to the top, it's hard to deny that it feels like the launching pad for her ascent into true stardom.

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Entertainment Weekly

For the most part, Blacklight is far too flat to shine. [24 Aug 2007, p.130]

The Guardian

When Rilo Kiley stick to bittersweet pop, as on '15,' a country romp about underage sex, the results are engaging enough. But that marriage of extremes is hard to pull off, and on 'Breakin' Up' they get it horribly wrong.

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Dot Music

Aside from whatever awaits Rilo Kiley if they discover, like Courtney Love before them, that deliberately setting the dial to AOR doesn't guarantee success--is the seam of graceless contrivance. Not just musically--but lyrically.

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Observer Music Monthly

The remainder of their fourth album, however, has a familiar Midwestern chug, and is a gorgeous confection of girl-group soft rock and country-tinged balladeering.

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Pitchfork

Either they're utterly serious about their flirtation with the mainstream or they're taking the piss with a wink. In both cases, the songs suffer a smothering slow death by context.

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New Musical Express

Sadly, it's an isolated gem ['Dejalo'] that can't lift Under The Blacklight out of its dull AOR mire.

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Alternative Press

Fans will love it, but if you're not already on board, this album won't change your mind. [Oct 2007, p.169]

PopMatters

A messy set of songs caught up in a fruitless search for some kind of thematic self-justification. If Under the Blacklight really was a concept album, then the concept was irretrievably flawed.

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Stylus Magazine

The one thing you can't accuse Under the Blacklight of is being boring, but it abides by an either/or sort of mentality that presumes that a complete lack of substance is the only alternative to the kind of music Rilo Kiley and their pals made in 2002.

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cokemachineglow

Yes, the beats are big and the sound is mainstream and commercial; however, the band sound restrained and uncomfortable.

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NOW Magazine

What makes Under The Blacklight a true disappointment is the shoddy songcraft.

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Under The Radar

The award for most disappointing album of the year (so far) gos without question to Rilo Kiley's Under the Blacklight. [Summer 2007, p.76]

Urb

The disc's most memorable moments come in the musical ideas left abandoned. [Sep/Oct 2007, p.130]

Hartford Courant

Lewis has tons of charisma--but it's a shame the shift in focus coincides with an album so superficial that her characters' hollow-eyed come-ons seem genuine by comparison.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 6.6 (out of 10) based on 46 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Einar J. gave it a6:
Sometimes, you love something about this album, other times you're wondering what you liked. 'Close Call' and 'Silver Lining' are the best tracks. 'Smoke Detecter' is atrocious.

Emily S. gave it a10:
I love all the old albums, but this one takes the cake. So fun, but layered. I like each song more, each time I hear it!

Mike gave it a10:
A great, fun record that should be rulling the radio right now.

Jan H gave it a9:
The more I listen to it the more I like even the not-so-good tracks (Moneymaker, 15). Very clever pop with sometimes a bit clumsy lyrics. The sound reminds me of Luna. It has been fun to listen to their older stuff now, there are some gems but this change in sound and attitude is more then welcome.

Maisy M. gave it a9:
Good Album. Pleasant Surprise.More a Jenny Lewis Launching pad than a rilo kiley album however.

javichun gave it a9:
Brilliant album!!! One of the best this year!!

Chad S. gave it an8:
You shouldn't categorically write this album off because of its aggressive mainstream stance. Think of "Under the Blacklight" as the masterpiece Gwen Stefani never wrote. "The Moneymaker" is a little off-putting, yes, but "Silver Lining" and "Close Call" are great pop songs; commercially-minded songs with some substance. Giving the male vocalist his shot on "Dreamworld" reminded me of how Downy Mildew used to feature a song by their male singer. Whatever happened to Downy Mildew?

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Under the Blacklight

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