Take Offs and Landings wasn’t exactly Rilo Kiley’s big break. That came a year later in 2002 with The Execution of All Things, an album that cemented them as some of the most vital indie rock bands of their era. But while gentler and more understated than its successors, Take Offs deserves as much recognition. Released under Barsuk Records in July 2001, Take Offs and Landings followed Rilo Kiley’s 1999 self-released, self-titled EP (aka The Initial Friend), funded by The Kids in the Hall’s Dave Foley. The EP was both playful and personal, with tracks about guitarist Blake Sennett wanting his mom’s boyfriend to die because he’s so terrible to her (“Steve”) and vocalist Jenny Lewis looking back at her parents divorce before the sound of noise makers and a car alarm take over in a headache-inducing symphony (“Troubadors / Annoying Noise of Death”). Take Offs was Rilo Kiley’s opportunity to properly introduce themselves as budding musicians. The whimsy featured in their self-titled EP was toned down; Lewis and Sennett strived to instead use their first studio album to spotlight their songwriting, opting for sparse instrumentation. Rilo Kiley was still trying to find their footing, but you can see hints of what the band was about to become: one of the most prominent voices within its genre.
When Rilo Kiley made Take Offs and Landings, they carried the weight of struggling to be taken seriously as musicians. Lewis was then best-known as the adorable child star from Troop Beverly Hills. Meanwhile, co-bandleader Blake Sennett was in popular sitcoms like Boy Meets World and Salute Your Shorts! When the career change happened, their foray into music wasn’t well-received. “We really had to prove ourselves; we didn’t take any shortcuts,” Lewis told NME in 2023. “We could hear hipsters shit-talking me in the fucking crowd because of my child actor past. We didn’t want to talk about it when we first started the band because it was embarrassing, and people made fun of us.”
It didn’t help that the distinction between Lewis and Blake as actors and musicians was blurred at times. In 2000, they played fictionalized versions of themselves in the short-lived TV series Once and Again, where they performed “Always,” one of the most popular tracks off Take Offs and Landings. Some critics dismissed Rilo Kiley’s debut, failing to see the charm in the scrappy record. Pitchfork went as far as giving it a 4.0/10 score, fixating on “Science Vs. Romance” being featured in Dawson’s Creek and calling the album “kind of boring and a little too self-consciously precious for its own good.” Nearly 20 years later, Pitchfork changed its tune, giving it an 8.0 and calling it an “undeniable classic.”
Much of why Take Offs and Landings was ultimately critically reassessed is thanks to Lewis and Sennett’s vulnerability in their songwriting. While they were unfairly judged at the time by some who falsely believed that child actors turning into musicians were doing so as a gimmicky chance at extending their 15 minutes, the co-bandleaders were plagued with issues that the average twenty-something knows all too well: They were holding on to ill-fated romances out of fear of being alone, battling depression in a bleak world while trying to be productive members of society, and worrying about being able to pay bills once the work dries up.
At its core, Take Offs and Landings is a record about stubbornly striving to have stability while being clueless on how to find it, not knowing what you’re doing or who you are yet. Its thesis comes through in “Pictures of Success,” where Lewis admits that, while she’s a “modern girl,” she folds “in half so easily” while trying to succeed. Even when “the bills keep changing colors” and living in California is bleeding her dry, she’s “got [her] best shoes on and is ready to go.”
The album opens with “Go Ahead,” a pared-down, acoustic finger-picking folk tune in which Lewis tells her love interest that she doesn’t want to hold them back, nor be held back by someone who isn’t sure what they want. The lyrics are simpler than many of Lewis’ heartbreak bangers, are a timeless take on situationships: “If you wanna hold on to the first girl that you meet / Or if you wanna settle down and plant roses at my feet / Go ahead, go ahead / Go ahead, I wish you would / Go ahead.” It’s less about who the person Lewis is enamored with is and more about Lewis learning to protect herself from more anguish amid all her other struggles; it’s best to rip the emotional Band-Aid off already. This theme and sound continue later on in “Bulletproof,” where Lewis knows her relationship is “dead” and “has been dying for some time,” but she can’t stomach the thought of being left behind. “Please be kind / Don’t drop the rock on me / Don’t go outside / And discover that you like being free,” she pleads with her lover, as her voice takes on a sweet, almost childlike inflection.
Take Offs and Landings isn’t really about Lewis’ love life, but rather how many of the obstacles she faces affect her psyche. She craves escapism, a distraction from her contemplation of mortality and depression, which comes through on the album in the metaphor of aviation. But Lewis knows that escapism isn’t always healthy. “Sometimes planes, they smash up in the sky,” she sings during the alt-country-inspired standout “Wires and Waves.” (Similarly to Wilco‘s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, despite being released in 2001, it was written well before the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, with the subject matter being an unsettling coincidence.)
Lewis addresses this need to get her life together while feeling like she’s failing at it in “Plane Crash in C.” With a monotone delivery and soaring synths paired with understated guitar riffs and bursts of trumpet, she questions how others make adult responsibilities like paying bills, showing up to work early, and hiding her true feelings feel so “effortless.” Her emotions crack as she frustratedly wails the final chorus: “And why do they do it / And show up anyway? / When they know that damn well / There’s no room for promotions out here / And maybe it’s wise / And maybe I’m just stupid / For laughing at your jokes.”
Rilo Kiley cuts through the bleakness with the twee, folk pop-leaning sound used throughout the record. Besides the acoustic moments, the album is accentuated with trumpet (performed by fellow actor-turned-musician Philip Watt), synths, keys, and strings. At times, these touches are reminiscent of Neutral Milk Hotel and Belle and Sebastian, which used lively arrangements to undercut the underlying despair behind the lyrics. Even in moments that feel joyful, undercurrents of bleakness seep through. “Always,” the poppiest track on the record, is about Lewis’ unwavering love for a romantic interest. With the endearing sentiment, there’s a hint that something is amiss and it’s not all bliss, as Lewis sings in its cryptic chorus: “The phantom is disguised / It’s horrifying right before your eyes / The phantom is inside / It’s hideous, right before your eyes.”
Sennett’s contributions as a co-lyricist and vocalist balance Lewis’ melancholy with quiet optimism. On “August” and “Rest of My Life,” he doesn’t give up hope on a romance that isn’t working out, but he also doesn’t push to make it work. In the former, he looks forward to meeting this woman again, “beyond the time and the bars,” away from the limitations that impede their romance. Meanwhile, in the twinkling, acoustic “Rest of My Life,” he wistfully sings about striving to find someone who embodies the same qualities of the one who got away, accepting defeat in not having the woman he idealizes.
His own vulnerability fully shines through in the hidden closing track “Salute My Shorts!” (previously known as “Spectacular Views,” which is also the title of a different track featured in The Execution of All Things). “When we broke down/In that small mining town/I was ready for quitting/My guard was down,” he admits in the opening lines, showing he’s just as lost as Lewis, his partner in navigating the new phase of their lives. He brings up the aviation metaphor, tying the album together by declaring that he now has to become the “pilot” of his own plane.
Throughout Take Offs and Landings, Lewis comes across as the more original of the co-bandleaders, both as a singer and a songwriter. Her voice is distinctive; she manipulates its pitch seamlessly throughout the record to communicate the emotions behind the songs. But Sennett, who was Elliott Smith’s protégé, at times suffers from having his voice and its intonation mirror his idol’s. It’s in “Salute My Shorts!,” one of the deepest cuts in Rilo Kiley’s discography, that you get to the core of Sennett’s true artistic self.
Where the album falters compared to the rest of the band’s discography is in its lack of bombast and slightly more monotonous approach, especially when compared to the risks taken on their EP, or the perfect tempo of beloved tracks like “Glendora” or “Portions for Foxes.” But seeing Rilo Kiley perform parts of Take Offs during their reunion tour put the album into better perspective for me; Lewis and Sennett playing the closing guitar riffs in “Wires and Waves” was one of the highlights, which to me even rivaled hearing fan-favorites like “A Better Son/Daughter.” I’d argue that Take Offs and Landings doesn’t need a “banger.” It thrives in being the soundtrack to those days when you’re crushed by the weight of life and need a breather, with Lewis’ voice cooing you into tranquility.
Tatiana Tenreyro is Paste‘s associate music editor, based in New York City. You can also find her writing at SPIN, NME, PAPER Magazine, The A.V. Club, and other outlets.
