Rockbites: Rilo Kiley release 2nd LP, tour US with Nada Surf

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August 2001 • Rockbites Alternative Daily

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Rilo Kiley release 2nd LP, tour US with Nada Surf
15 August 2001

Rilo Kiley, an eclectic indie four piece from the Echo Park community of Los Angeles, released their second album Take Offs And Landings on 31 July for the US on Seattle’s Barsuk Records. The 12 track set (plus two iterregnum instrumentals and an unlisted bonus), self recorded and produced like their first album, follows it by a couple of years.
    The band formed in 1998 as an extension of a longer term songwriting partnership between Jenny Lewis (vocals, keyboards, bass) and Blake Sennett (guitars, vocals). Without a thread of connection to a major label Rilo Kiley managed to score a rotation slot on MTV for their debut video (The Frug), inclusion on the soundtrack to the 1998 Christina Ricci film Desert Blue, and opening honors for one of the early Breeders reunion shows.
    The songs on Take Offs And Landings—blending acoustic & electric guitars, clear folk-pop vocals, live drums, synths, violin, trumpet, and bass—are gentle but not weak, innocent not naive, quaint not kitsch, poignant not sappy, and amusing without sarcasm. Moreover, the whole set is instantly accessible without becoming trite. Quite a stunt. It all has to do with a lack of angst, a fine musical sensibility, and open eyes, I’d venture.
    Tracks on the new album are Go Ahead, Science Vs. Romance, Wires And Waves, Pictures Of Success, August, Bulletproof, Plane Crash In C, Variations On A Theme (Science Vs. Romance), Small Figures In A Vast Expanse, Don’t Deconstruct, Always, We’ll Never Sleep (God Knows We’ll Try), Rest Of My Life, Variations On A Theme (Plane Crash In C); plus the bonus track.
    It’s all lovely, and totally refreshing. Three bites out of five.

Rockbites ratings  5: life changing, 4: stunning, 3: captivating, 2: amusing, 1: annoying.

Rilo Kiley are on a small-venue US tour through the end of the month supporting New York rockers Nada Surf. Here are the remaining dates

August
15 - Carrboro, NC (Cat’s Cradle)
16 - Baltimore, MD (Sidebar)
17 - Boston, MA (Middle East)
18 - Rockville Center, NY (Backstreet Blues)
19 - New York city, NY (Brownies)
20 - Chicago, IL (Metro)
22 - Milwaukee, WI (Miramar Theater)
23 - Minneapolis, MN (Ascot Room)
24 - Lawrence, KS (The Bottleneck)
25 - Denver, CO (15th Street Tavern)
27 - Salt Lake City, UT (Kilby Court Gallery)
31 - Los Gatos, CA (Los Gatos Outhouse)
| Rilo Kiley | | Rilo Kiley on Barsuk records | | CD from Amazon US | | top of page |

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