Every so often you'll hear something that makes you desperately miss what you once had. Rkives is just that - a compilation of rarities from the super sublime Rilo Kiley, it just goes to show how the off-cuts of a defunct band can still put contemporary albums to shame.
Make no mistake, when it comes to acerbic American female songwriting, Jenny Lewis is up there with Cat Power. Just as her stunning solo efforts begin to fade from memory (which, realistically, they never should), the old Rilo Kiley canon delivers more subtle jabs to the American Dream to remind us just how witty Lewis is, delayed but still no less relevant.
All the Drugs is the most obvious swipe at a modern malaise (also tackled in Jenny & Johnny's Big Wave), while that trademark lackadaisical delivery works a treat to cover the barbs on Bury, Bury, Bury Another.
The tag of a B-sides/rarities album often seems like self-cushioning for a band professing that this was never their best work. Of course, there are some numbers here that remind us why they weren't released previously; however, on the strength of songs like Let Me Back In and the standout Draggin' Around, the group could have easily released an entire new LP without exertion. Remarkable stuff.