''Take Offs and Landings'' is

Rilo Kiley Rilo Kiley ( ) is an American indie rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1998, the band consists of Jenny Lewis, Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder, and Jason Boesel. The group released their debut album '' Take-Offs and Landing ...

's debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, originally released in 2001 on the vanity label "Rilo Records", then shortly thereafter on the independent label

Barsuk Records Barsuk Records ( ) is an independent record label based in Seattle, Washington which was founded in 1998 by Christopher Possanza and Josh Rosenfeld, the members of the band This Busy Monster, to release their band's material. Its logo is a draw ...

. It was released for the first time on vinyl on March 15, 2011. Of Rilo Kiley's albums, ''Take Offs and Landings'' contains the most songs sung by band member Blake Sennett, who sings lead on "August", "Small Figures in a Vast Expanse", "Rest of My Life", and a hidden track.

Jenny Lewis Jennifer Diane Lewis (born January 8, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and keyboardist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley. Lewis gained prominence in the 1980s as a child ...

sings lead on the other tracks, except for the instrumental tracks "Variations on a Theme (Science vs. Romance)" and "Variations on a Theme (Plane Crash in C)". The album's hidden track, which did not appear on the first pressing, is officially titled "Spectacular Views". However, since a later Rilo Kiley song (the closing track to '' The Execution of All Things'') has the same name, it is often referred to as "Salute My Shorts!", in reference to Sennett's acting role on the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

television show '' Salute Your Shorts''. As of July 2006, the album has sold 66,000 copies in United States.

Critical reception and legacy

In a 20th-anniversary retrospective, ''

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''s Abby Jones wrote that ''Landings'' "isn't the best album Rilo Kiley ever made", as they were "still zeroing in on their sound" at the time. She called it "a treat to hear them start to get there" though, praising "Lewis and

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

Sennett's proficiency in

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

" reflected through its "melting pot" of musical styles. Jones also argued for both ''Landings'' and Kiley's recognition within

emo music Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...

's canon, despite attracting the same fans of their "similarly sullen" peers like Bright Eyes and

Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie (commonly abbreviated to DCFC or Death Cab) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. Death Cab for Cutie's music has been classified as indie rock, indie pop, and alternative rock. The ...

. She observed Lewis' lyrics' "often macabre nature" and said that "at her best, she could eclipse her

male Male (Planet symbols, symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or Egg cell, ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot sexual repro ...

peers." Later that year, ''Take'' was included on a ''

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'' list of revised reviews, with its original 2002 score of 4.0 raised to 8.0. The site's Quinn Moreland recognized its status as "an undeniable classic" and praised Kiley's use of

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

in making "candid and often devastating observations about longing, insecurities, and the uncertainties of young adulthood." Though Kiley "were still finding their footing" on the album, she wrote that it "shines when heyallow themselves to expand into their ambitions."

Accolades

Track listing

All songs written by Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett.

Personnel

– vocals, keyboards, guitar * Blake Sennett – guitar, keyboards, vocals * Pierre de Reeder – bass guitar, guitar, backing vocals * Dave Rock – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

*Phillip Watt - trumpet on "Pictures of Success," "Plane Crash in C," and "Don't Deconstruct" *

Alex Greenwald Alex Greenwald is an American musician, actor, and record producer. He is the lead vocalist of the California rock band Phantom Planet. Life and career Greenwald is American. In 1994, Greenwald formed Phantom Planet in his teens with four fri ...

- synths on "Pictures of Success" and "Plane Crash in C" *Shana Levy - keyboard on "Go Ahead" *Larissa Brantner - violin on "Don't Deconstruct" and "Rest of My Life" *Aram Arslanian - keyboard on "Plane Crash in C" *Ben Boyer - drums on "We'll Never Sleep (God Knows We'll Try)" *

Danny Cooksey Daniel Ray Allen Cooksey Jr. (born November 2, 1975) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his roles in television shows, such as ''Diff'rent Strokes'' (during the final three seasons), '' The Cavanaughs'', ''Xiaolin Showdown'', ...

- backing vocals on "Science vs. Romance" and "Always"

References

{{Authority control 2001 debut albums Rilo Kiley albums Barsuk Records albums