Tuesday, Jun. 23, 2009

Review: For Jenny Lewis, all the world's a stage

Preston Jones

DALLAS -- Long before she earned her keep as the reigning queen of indie rock, Jenny Lewis was an actress.

Granted, her filmography is loaded with semi-embarrassing titles like The Wizard and Troop Beverly Hills, but Lewis clearly hasn't forgotten the Hollywood moves. Although she now makes a living through music, her chameleon instincts haven't left her -- even if they do make it difficult to get a sense of the woman behind the song.

During her 90-minute set Tuesday night at the Granada Theater, Lewis played a number of roles -- vamping sexpot, pious country girl and quirky headbanger -- but none of them truly resonated.

Early in her performance, during the night's opener, See Fernando, Lewis, in the midst of prowling the stage and shimmying her hips, exuding an old-school carnality, cracked up with the giggles at song's end. It broke the spell and allowed a momentary glimpse behind the curtain; all the come-hither glances and pouting lyrics were an act, not something to be taken at face value.

So it went throughout the evening, as Lewis and her backing quintet (which included her beau, singer/songwriter Johnathan Rice) worked through much of her 2008 sophomore solo effort Acid Tongue. There were nods to Lewis's day job, Rilo Kiley, with a strangely inert (but lovely) reading of Silver Lining, from the band's 2007 disc Under the Blacklight, as well as her superior solo debut, 2006's Rabbit Fur Coat.

Whether it was a hint of gospel, a taste of narcotized country-folk or a dab of slightly glammy pop-rock, Lewis ably handled the shifts in tone and sounded fantastic throughout, although some of the more dramatic vocal flourishes (during Jack Killed Mom or Happy, for instance) were a tad over the top.

Mostly, her set -- which appeared to delight the shrieking, near-capacity crowd to no end -- served as a potent reminder of the ease with which musicians can traffic in slick surface as well as the feeling of hollow disappointment when it's realized that all any particular pretender has to offer is an approximation of authenticity, rather than the real thing.

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