Rilo Kiley

Rilo Kiley followed a trajectory similar to their West Coast peers Death Cab for Cutie, steadily building momentum within indie pop circles across the late 1990s and early 2000s until both the music business and mainstream audiences registered their presence. Fronted by onetime child actors Jenny Lewis on vocals, guitar, and keyboards alongside Blake Sennett on guitar and vocals, the Los Angeles quartet held its inaugural rehearsal in 1998. Pierre de Reeder on bass and drummer Dave Brock, subsequently succeeded by Jason Boesel formerly of Foundation Lassie, rounded out the group. A standing weekly engagement at the Spaceland club in Silverlake gave them the chance to refine their blend of classic pop, country, torch song, and folk elements.

Barsuk Records, the Seattle imprint that also housed Death Cab for Cutie, issued the debut Take Offs and Landings in 2001. Ben Gibbard, that band’s singer, would later recruit Lewis for the Postal Service’s gold-selling first record. Although Lewis’s parallel ventures and rising visibility would later position her as the group’s central figure, the debut operated as a shared spotlight effort, with Sennett taking lead vocals across four songs. Roadwork in support of the album led to an encounter with Omaha’s Tim Kasher of Cursive and the Good Life at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall. Drawn by Saddle Creek Records’ established roster and creative latitude, the band pursued a deal with the Omaha label, which seldom accepted acts from outside its home city yet ultimately signed Rilo Kiley and put out the twang-inflected follow-up The Execution of All Things in October 2002.

After sharing stages with the Breeders, Pedro the Lion, and Superchunk, the members paused for individual pursuits. Lewis added backing vocals to the Postal Service’s Give Up and joined their touring lineup, while Sennett and Boesel delivered the Elected’s first album. The band regrouped for 2004’s More Adventurous, yet friction with Saddle Creek prompted them to launch Brute/Beaute Records, an imprint under Warner, for its release. Strengthened by a unified sound, multiple singles, and major distribution, the album expanded their reach considerably. Subsequent tours alongside Coldplay and Bright Eyes ensued, and the single “Portions for Foxes” appeared in an episode of the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy.

Following that third album’s breakthrough, another hiatus allowed personal work. Boesel drummed for Bright Eyes on the road and collaborated with Sennett on the Elected’s second album Sun, Sun, Sun, yet these activities were eclipsed by the strong reception for Jenny Lewis’s solo debut Rabbit Fur Coat. Issued by Team Love Records, co-founded by her former Saddle Creek labelmate Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, and featuring the vocal duo the Watson Twins, the record surpassed every prior Rilo Kiley release on the charts. Lewis promoted it with three separate tours throughout 2006 and received praise from Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and NPR. Having already secured a Warner Bros. contract after More Adventurous, the group reassembled to capitalize on major-label resources, resulting in Under the Blacklight. Released in August 2007, the album marked their first project under a major and their fourth studio effort overall.

Lewis’s second solo outing, Acid Tongue, surfaced in 2008 and signaled the band’s gradual dissolution. Confirmation of their status remained elusive for some time. Jason Boesel informed Paste in 2010 that the group had entered hiatus, and Blake Sennett stated the following year that the project had concluded, though both alluded to a forthcoming rarities collection. That set, Rkives, which included completed unreleased material, arrived in spring 2013.