Is it possible that Rilo Kiley is the smartest band on the planet, or have they done something so insanely stupid that it could be mistaken for genius? And is “lite rock” the new “indie rock”?

I got a copy of Under the Black Light with my expectations set about where they’ve been since I first heard Rilo. Jenny’s pretty voice over some listen-able alt-rock melodies. With the exception of a handful of tracks I was never moved one way or the other by the Rilo phenomenon. One thing was certain, they had carved a nice little niche with their audience and didn’t effect anything resembling a difference.

From left to right: The Pretty One, The Plain One, The Twee Elfin One, and Donald Fagen of Steely Dan

Which is why Under the Black Light has thrown me for such a loop. It’s wildly overproduced with disco flourishes and moments of earnest 80’s adult pop sounds. Upon the first listening I thought it was some kind of avant-garde “fuck you” to their fan base, but perhaps what’s actually happening is Rilo Kiley’s bid to shift the alt-rock paradigm. Maybe, just maybe, they’re trying to change the flavor rather than placate the popular taste. It’s a bold move to be sure. Let’s face it, major-label indie rock is a horse with three broken legs. It either emerges soft and underdone (in the bad way, like a preemie, not the good way, like soft chocolate chip cookies), or wonky and inaccessible.

I can see how Spin magazine asked “Is Rilo kiley the new Fleetwood Mac?” I initially scoffed at the seemingly superficial comparison, seeing as how they’re a band rife with sexual tension and bubbling hurt feelings, but now I think I know what they really meant. The new album isn’t merely a nod to Mirage-era Mac with the Buckingham-esque layered vocals (Dreamworld), pad keys and lilting mowtown fades, instead it’s practically a cover-album of Mac B-sides that were never written.

Rife with 80’s breezy soft-rock riffs and runs, Under the Black Light pairs like a tawny port to pot roast with the Christine McVie solo album tracks I recently downloaded. Don’t believe me? Log on to iTMS and sample the tracks yourself.

The stand-out track for me is Smoke Detector, which flirts with a pretty insane concept of an indie rock song spawning it’s own dance. Something OTHER than just shoegazing. It’s easy to picture a precisely choreographed video to go along with the song where a whole dance floor of adorable Jenny Lewis clones wildly wave and blink “doing the Smoke Detector.” (Take THAT, Feist!)

If you love Rilo, then you’ll have to measure your response to the album and possibly refer to this chart gauging Jenny’s rising skirt hemlines to the de-listenability of the band. If you were numb to Rilo up until this point, but have a welcoming ear for the Buckingham-Nicks-era Fleetwood Mac oeuvre, then this may just be your time to jump.