Jenny Lewis is indie royalty these days, but she was coming off a small role in 1998's Pleasantville when she started Rilo Kiley in 1998 with Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder, and Dave Rock. And while they didn’t release their first proper LP—Take-Offs And Landings—until 2001, the band’s first batch of recordings was a rare self-titled EP that’s been out of print for roughly two decades. If you loved the L.A. indie pop outfit as fiercely as most of its fans, you probably found the EP on Soulseek a decade ago. If you didn’t, though, the now-dormant band is giving it a proper release on both vinyl and streaming services. (Interestingly, the funding for the sessions that spawned the recordings was provided by Kids In The Hall’s Dave Foley.)
Songs on the EP include “Papillion,” “Always,” and “Teenage Lovesong,” as well as “Frug,” which directly (and dryly) references Lewis’ role in Troop Beverly Hills. If it sounds familiar, that’s because it was also slotted in the band’s 2013 B-sides and demos collection, RKives. It was also, of course, on the soundtrack of the ‘98 indie, Desert Blue, clips of which are interspersed throughout the song’s video, which you can watch below.
Rilo Kiley will arrive on October 2nd via de Reeder’s label, Little Record Company. Pre-orders are available here.