Take-Offs & Landings

Los Angeles, California. Rilo Kiley come into the room. The Echo Park-based songwriters and multi-instrumentalists have an uncanny knack for fashioning new pop songs that sound like something you've been humming your entire life. The three-boy/one-girl quartet's picture already appears in several dictionary editions next to the "Indie Pop" entry. They are skilled. They can go from a swirling, indie-rock opus to a softly strummed, country-tinged ballad of heartbreak and not cheapen the transition with irony. Their songs are riddled with impossibly catchy melodies, off-kilter lyrics, sweetness, light, and sadness. Most importantly, though, Rilo Kiley really mean it, and their honest instinct for subtle songwriting sets them apart from the herd of twee popsters that infest the pop spectrum.