Cross early Cardigans with Weezer, or imagine the Delgados without the chamber-pop ambitions, and you're close in sound, if not spirit, to Rilo Kiley. Frontlady Jenny Lewes girlishly delivers paranoid messages of the apocalypse, like some kind of indie rock Cassandra; likewise, the music itself infuses melodic sweetness with a weird nervous energy.
Actually, the best description of Execution is that it's a little like The Bends, insofar as it's an album that not only grows in power as you listen to it, but also hints at deep wells of innovation and talent about to be plumbed for an absolute masterpiece. This impression may be credited, in part, to Lewes's dark ramblings, which are sincere and avoid even the barest hint of whining affect. And though the songs on Execution touch on a wide gamut of styles -- pop, prog, country -- each one sounds like the band's own. See them while they're still the next big thing.
