Sold on its bright and rousing strut

In “Close Call,� one of the best cuts on Rilo Kiley’s terrific new album, “Under the Blacklight,� frontwoman Jenny Lewis notes that there’s a “funny thing about money for sex -- you might get rich but you’ll die by it.�

That line may serve as a metaphor for “Under the Blacklight’s� mixed reception. While critics have enthusiastically embraced the CD (Rilo Kiley’s major-label debut), Internet chatter among old-school fans has centered on complaints about the Los Angeles foursome’s perceived change in direction from wistful indie-folk dreamers to sleek pop-rock sexpots. Some have even hauled out that dreaded word “sellout� to describe the transformation.

Yet if “Under the Blacklight� has cost Rilo Kiley the devotion of the indie underground, the band didn’t seem terribly worried about it Monday night at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, where a vocal hometown crowd cheered every sound, sight and strut of the final show of the outfit’s two-month world tour.

Perhaps Lewis knew she had this audience in her pocket: Near the end of Rilo Kiley’s 100-minute set, she and guitarist Blake Sennett played an unreleased tune in which Lewis sang of traveling the world before admitting, with relief, “L.A., you always let me back in.� Wild applause made it clear that hasn’t changed.

Augmented by two auxiliary players, the band concentrated on material from “Under the Blacklight� and its excellent predecessor, 2004’s “More Adventurous,� on which Lewis and Sennett (both former child actors who were once romantically involved) first indicated their joint taste for stylistic dress-up. “Adventurous� bounced from bubbly new wave to French cafe pop to tear-in-your-beer country; “Blacklight� adds to the palette Heart-style hair metal and drum-machine R&B.;

In Santa Monica, Rilo Kiley proved that its facility with genre isn’t simply a studio creation. “Portions for Foxes� packed a powerful teen-dream adrenaline rush, with Lewis striking well-deserved rock-goddess poses at center stage. “Breakin’ Up� featured lovely soul-pop harmony vocals. Rich with layered guitars and riding a mellow “Billie Jean� beat, “Dreamworld� shimmered like a perfect hallucination of mid-’70s SoCal cocaine rock.

The group also gave the Rilo Kiley treatment to “Rise Up With Fists!!� from Lewis’ 2006 solo album, “Rabbit Fur Coat,� as well as “Greetings in Braille,� a song by Sennett’s side project, the Elected. It unveiled a full-band version of “Blacklight’s� closer, “Give a Little Love,� which on the album works as a female response to LL Cool J’s tough-guy slow jam, “I Need Love.�

The show’s only misstep came at the end, when the group blew off some road-weary steam with an aimless instrumental jam that would’ve tested the patience of a Grateful Dead fan. Fortunately for Rilo Kiley, L.A. gave the band a pass.