http://www.weeklyplanet.com/2003-07-31/music_feature2.html
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An Amalgam of Sounds Weekly Planet USER FRIENDLY: A band without a genre, but with a sound that's cool across the board -- Rilo Kiley. BY SCOTT HARRELL Rilo Kiley It's nice to know that Florida's not the only place where summer and thunder go together. Apparently Columbus, Ohio, is like that too, only its waterspouts are dry and they're called tornadoes. The excellent Los Angeles band Rilo Kiley is there, in the midst of its current tour; the band has braved the rain in search of a particular motel, at the behest of singer/guitarist/keyboardist Jenny Lewis. "We discovered it while we were out on tour exactly a year ago, and I had writer's block," says Lewis. "It had this weird exercise room with, like, one stationary bike in it, and a dank, abandoned kind of feel. "I took my guitar into the room, and a flood of music came to me. It broke my block. So I forced the guys to drive through the rain to find this motel again, and now I'm looking for the room." Over the phone, Lewis evokes a vibe remarkably similar to that of her band's music -- warm, intelligent and succinctly expressive. Lots of groups have worked a combination of elements similar to those that make up Rilo Kiley. The group's inimitable amalgam of pop, roots and indie-rock rises above, however, on the strength of its unique personality and endearingly open lyrics. It's the kind of organic whole that draws in fans of all sorts of music, from insurgent country to power-pop, simply because it's all of those things and more without trying to be any of them. Lewis, a former child actor, formed Rilo Kiley with fellow singer/guitarist/recovering thespian Blake Sennet in 1998. Bassist Pierre de Reeder, drummer Dave Rock (since replaced by Jason Boesel), a buttload of touring, and the home-recorded 2001 debut Takeoffs and Landings (Barsuk Records) followed. It was during a road-stint with indie legends Superchunk that they first met Tim Kasher, principal for Omaha bands Cursive and The Good Life, both signed to that Nebraska city's insular, communal Saddle Creek Records (Bright Eyes, The Faint). Kasher invited Rilo Kiley to tour Lincoln's Presto Studio, where Saddle Creek co-founder Mike Mogis has produced the majority of the label's projects. The band decided on the spot to record there, with Mogis producing. The six-week session yielded enduring friendships, a new deal with the label, and most importantly, last October's The Execution of All Things, a wonderfully emotional and eclectic guitar-pop record that makes good on Takeoffs and Landings' promise. "They welcomed us with open arms. It's like we've got a new home away from home," says Lewis of the cred-heavy Saddle Creek and its Omaha-centric extended family. "We just played Omaha a few weeks ago, and it was the best show of the tour, much better than Los Angeles." One gets the feeling that fostering that sense of family and tight-knit community is among Rilo Kiley's top priorities. On their current tour, the bill includes Omaha's Statistics, whose major players contributed heavily to rocking Bright Eyes offshoot Desaparecidos. Also along for the ride is evocative singer/songwriter M. Ward, a member of Superchunk's Merge Records roster, whom they met while both acts were on the road supporting Bright Eyes, Saddle Creek's biggest seller. The band's connection to one of indiedom's most talked-about cadres will surely draw in some curious fans of the label's other artists. But it's really only one more reason to check out an act that gives a ton of reasons by virtue of ability alone. "Ultimately, if people can relate to one aspect of the music, that's fine. We can be a bit schizophrenic, because our influences range from old country to modern rock, proggy stuff, and whatever we grew up with," Lewis says. "I think that's just an expression of our tastes, and ultimately, I don't really question why people like us, why they come out. We enjoy dong all sides of it." |
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