Rilo Kiley

All Music Guide:

Like their West Coast contemporaries in Death Cab for Cutie, Rilo Kiley steadily gained traction in indie pop circles throughout the late '90s and early 2000s before the record industry (and public at large) officially took note. Led by former child actors Jenny Lewis (vocals, guitar, keyboards) and Blake Sennett (guitar, vocals), the L.A.-based quartet held its first practice in 1998. Bassist Pierre de Reeder and drummer Dave Brock (later replaced by ex-Foundation Lassie member Jason Boesel) completed the lineup, and a weekly residency at the Spaceland nightclub in Silverlake allowed Rilo Kiley to hone its mix of classic pop, country, torch song, and folk.

The debut album Take Offs and Landings was released in 2001 by the Seattle-based Barsuk Records, also home to Death Cab for Cutie (whose lead singer, Ben Gibbard, would later enlist Lewis' help on the Postal Service's gold-selling debut). Although Lewis' side projects and star appeal would eventually make her the focal point of Rilo Kiley, Take Offs was the work of a dually fronted band, with Sennet contributing lead vocals on four tracks. The band supported the album by hitting the road, during which they were introduced to Omaha native Tim Kasher (Cursive, the Good Life) at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall. Both of Kasher's bands were signed to Omaha's Saddle Creek Records, whose solid roster and promise of creative freedom attracted Rilo Kiley's interest. Although the exclusive label had rarely opened its doors to bands outside of Omaha's city limits, they nevertheless signed Rilo Kiley and released the band's twangy sophomore effort, The Execution of All Things, in October 2002.

After touring with the likes of the Breeders, Pedro the Lion, and Superchunk, the band took some time off to pursue separate projects. Lewis contributed backing vocals to the Postal Service's Give Up, later touring with the band as well, while Sennett and Boesel released their debut album with the Elected. Rilo Kiley reconvened to record 2004's More Adventurous, but creative differences with Saddle Creek convinced the band to create their own label, Brute/Beaute Records (an imprint under the Warner umbrella), for the record's official release. Buoyed by a cohesive sound, several singles, and big-time distribution from Warner Bros., More Adventurous greatly heightened the band's profile. Tours with Coldplay and Bright Eyes followed, and the popular song "Portions for Foxes" was featured on the TV drama Grey's Anatomy.

Following the success of their third album, Rilo Kiley took yet another break to focus on personal projects. Boesel toured the world as Bright Eyes' drummer and worked with Sennet to record the Elected's sophomore release, Sun, Sun, Sun, but all efforts paled in comparison to the critical success of Jenny Lewis' solo debut, Rabbit Fur Coat. Released by Team Love Records (co-founded by Lewis' onetime labelmate, Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst) and featuring vocal duo the Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat charted higher than any Rilo Kiley album to date. Lewis supported the album by touring three times in 2006, earning accolades from such media sources as Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and NPR. Nevertheless, Warner Bros. had previously signed Rilo Kiley in the wake of More Adventurous' success, and the group reconvened once again to enjoy the major-label backing they'd worked so hard to achieve. Under the Blacklight, the band's first album on a majors' tab (and fourth full-length record overall), was released in August 2007. Jenny Lewis quickly released a second solo album, though, leading the band's future in doubt.

Wikipedia:

Rilo Kiley (/ˈaɪoʊ ˈaɪiː/ RY-loh KY-lee) was an American indie rock band based in Los Angeles. Formed in 1998, the band consisted of Jenny Lewis, Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder, and Jason Boesel.

The group released their debut album Take-Offs and Landings under Seattle-based independent label Barsuk Records in 2001. Since then, they have released three additional studio albums and several EPs. In 2007, they were signed with major record label Warner Bros., and subsequently made their major record label debut Under the Blacklight.

History [edit]

Fronted by Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett the band signed with independent label Barsuk Records for its first full-length album, Take-Offs and Landings, in 2001. The band later signed with Omaha's Saddle Creek Records and released The Execution of All Things in 2002. In 2004, it released More Adventurous on its own imprint, Brute/Beaute Records, which was distributed by major label Warner Bros. Records. The band later signed directly with Warner Bros.

2004 saw a great increase in recognition for the band, as Sennett and Boesel released an album with their band The Elected and Lewis sang backup on The Postal Service's Give Up. Lewis toured with The Postal Service before heading out on two tours in support of Rilo Kiley's More Adventurous in the summer and fall of 2004. The album spent late 2004 high on Billboard's Heatseekers Chart, and was promoted with appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The band opened for Bright Eyes on the international leg of Conor Oberst's tour for 2005's I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and was the opening act for the North American dates of Coldplay's Twisted Logic Tour in Fall 2005. "I Never" and "Ripchord" (from More Adventurous) have been featured in several feature films, including Must Love Dogs, Conversations with Other Women, and John Tucker Must Die.

The band's fourth album Under the Blacklight was released August 20, 2007 in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States. Its first single is "The Moneymaker". For the video, the band cast "real-life porn stars", who Lewis says were told they were auditioning for "soft core porn". The second single is "Silver Lining".

On September 6, 2007, the band began a North American tour in support of Under the Blacklight. On this tour, it was joined by Orenda Fink (of Azure Ray) and Kristin Gundred (of Grand Ole Party and Dum Dum Girls.

The group is also known for its charitable contributions, particularly to the Elliott Smith Memorial Fund, in honor of the late singer and friend of the band. Sennett and Lewis participated in a memorial concert for the singer shortly after his death in 2003. Sennett and Lewis also contributed to the 2005 UNICEF benefit song, "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?".

Hiatus and breakup [edit]

In a 2010 interview with Paste, Jason Boesel said the band was taking a break but working on a compilation of unreleased songs. He also said there were no plans to release a new album in the near future.

In an April 2011 interview, Blake Sennett said, "I would say that if Rilo Kiley were ... hmmm ... a human being ... hmmm ... he's probably laying on his back in a morgue with a tag on his toe. Now, I see movies where the dead get up and walk. And when they do that, rarely do good things happen."

In June 2011, when asked about his "corpse" comment and whether Rilo Kiley was indeed dead, Sennett said "I never say never. I loved Rilo Kiley—I loved writing with Jenny. I think she's a great artist and great to write with. I think we're not there yet. Maybe one day we'll dust it off and give it a go; I'd be open to it. I think it was fun—for all of the pitfalls, it was great. I had a great time in Rilo Kiley. I always did."

A month later Sennett told AOL Spinner: "I said, 'Fuck that, I can't do this anymore.' That being said, it was probably immature and that came from a place of ego. I think that stuff will rear its head in anything you do, depending on the personnel you surround yourself with; things change over time [sic] and people change and relationships change."

In February 2013, the band announced a collection of previously released rarities and unreleased material, titled "RKives," to be released in April 2013 on DeReeder's own label The Little Record Company.

Television appearances [edit]

The band's songs have frequently been used on television programs, such as The O.C. and Dawson's Creek. The apparent first use of Rilo Kiley music on a television show was also the last time that Blake Sennett and Jenny Lewis acted on television. In 2000, they played fictionalized versions of themselves (and the band performed "The Frug") on ABC's short-lived drama Once & Again. Both "The Frug" and "85" were used during a third season episode of Dawson's Creek (#46, "Barefoot At Capefest"). "Pictures of Success" was used in episode No. 114 of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, entitled "Older and Far Away". In 2005, "Portions For Foxes" was used in the pilot of Grey's Anatomy and "With Arms Outstretched" was used in the pilot and final episode of Weeds. "Portions for Foxes" was also used in the seventh episode of season one of Dollhouse, "Echoes". For a second-season episode of Weeds, Lewis sang the theme song ("Little Boxes") with Johnathan Rice who was touring with the band. "Silver Lining" was featured in the pilot of Women's Murder Club. The song "Breakin' Up" was featured in a fourth season episode of Grey's Anatomy. "The Moneymaker" was used on an episode of Nip/Tuck that aired on December 11, 2007 and on an episode of Samantha Who? that aired on April 16, 2009. "The Good That Won't Come Out" was featured in the background of the Season 4 Episode 4 episode of Heroes "Hysterical Blindness" on 10/12/2009. Recently their song "With Arms Outstretched" was used in the final scene of the series finale of the TV series Weeds.

Origin of the band's name [edit]

On the syndicated radio show Loveline in August 2005, Sennett explained that he had a dream in which he was being chased by a sports almanac: "when it got me, I leafed through it...and I came upon an Australian rules football player from the 19th century named Rilo Kiley. It's kind of embarrassing." When asked by co-host Drew Pinsky if he had ever seen this name in reality, Sennett said, "I don't think so, I don't think that character exists...If you Google 'Rilo Kiley' you just come back with a lot of pictures of us." On how this imaginary name became the name for the band: "I wrote it down on a blotter, an office desk when I woke up, and, I don't know, I came back to it when we were trying to think of a name and we thought we'd use that for one show then change it, 'cause who'd want that name? Who can remember that anyway?"

In 2005, Sennett told Planet Sound Teletext Magazine that the name came from a Scottish athlete. On a 2005 episode of the MSNBC entertainment show MSNBC Entertainment Hot List, the female host stated that the name came from "old Scottish sports almanacs". In the interview segment that followed, Sennett stated, "We just looked in there and the name of one of the star players from the turn of the century was Rilo Kiley."

In an interview published in magazine in September 2007, Sennett offered that Rilo Kiley is named after a character he'd met in a dream who had predicted the date of Jenny Lewis' death.