Rilo Kiley "Take Offs And Landings" 2xLP

With a sound that veers from the acoustic simplicity and poetic lyricism of coffeehouse folk to the bouncy, lo-fi appeal of D.I.Y. indie pop, this California quartet wrote melodies so damn catchy, you might almost think you've heard them before. Jenny Lewis (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Blake Sennet (guitar, vocals), Pierre de Reeder (bass) and Dave Rock (drums, later replaced by ex-Lassie Foundation member Jason Boesel) formed Rilo Kiley in 1998 in Los Angeles. Three years after its formation, the band initially self-released 2001's Take Offs and Landings before signing to Barsuk, who promptly reissued the album. Rilo Kiley quickly joined the ranks of labelmates Death Cab for Cutie and other acts such as Bright Eyes, The Shins, and The Decemberists as early '00s indie rock exploded into the mainstream.

Songs like "Go Ahead" and "Bulletproof" showcase the band's most distinctive asset — the sweet vocals and bittersweet lyrics of Jenny Lewis — while the breezy hooks and driving beats of tunes like "Wires and Waves" and "Always" show the band knows how to craft songs of undeniable infectiousness.

While the band stopped releasing albums after 2007's Under the Blacklight, their popularity has continued to grow in subsequent years. In celebration of the 20th anniversary, Stereogum recently posted a lengthy feature on Take Offs and Landings' influence over the current landscape of indie rock, quoting Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield and noting, "The way millennials have reminisced about Rilo Kiley's personal impact often mirrors the language Generation X has used to describe the riot grrrl movement only a decade before. If Kathleen Hanna's goal was to tell women in her crowds that their anger was justified, [the band's primary songwriter and singer Jenny] Lewis represented the opposing side of the same coin via Rilo Kiley: It's OK to be unabashedly and emphatically sad."