Track Review: Not Going Home by the Elected

Rating: 9.3The release of Rilo Kiley's latest record is a bittersweet moment for me. While the album itself is quite good and represents a new direction for the band - and is receiving a surprising (and deserved) amount of attention - a disproportionate amount of that attention seems to be given to Jenny Lewis... while Blake Sennett quietly sits in the wings - a cofounder, co-collaberator, but certainly not co-beneficiary. It's an unfair position for someone as able as Sennett to be in. As talented (if not more so) than Lewis, Blake is simply more subtle...but no less prolific. While Lewis's solo album, Rabbit Fur Coat, was - in my mind - underwhelming, Sennett's side project, The Elected, has produced some of the finest indie folk rock tunes this side of Elliot Smith.Case in point, Not Going Home, one of the best songs of 2006, hands down. It's but one track out of an entire album of brilliant, understated slowburning classics. Both of The Elected's albums, Sun Sun Sun and Me First, are some of the ultimate "one listen you'll miss it, multiple listens you'll love it" sorts of records.But that's the topic of a separate review. For now, take a moment to step out from under the Blacklight, face the rising sun, and take a moment to listen to this little recognized gem.