The Initial Friend
1999 EP by Rilo Kiley
Rilo Kiley, also known as The Initial Friend EP, is the first release by Los Angeles–based rock band Rilo Kiley. It was initially released independently in 1999 under the title Rilo Kiley. It was subsequently re-pressed in 2000 and again in 2001, under the name The Initial Friend EP with an alternate track-listing and cover. All three releases commonly sell on eBay for between $250–400 and are fairly rare.
The recording sessions for the EP were funded by comedian and actor Dave Foley, who was an early fan of the band and had attended their first concert in January 1998.
"Frug," which references the 1960s dance of the same name, and "85" were included in the soundtrack to the Christina Ricci film Desert Blue, which led to the band's heightened popularity and eventual signing to a record label. "Frug" was also the band's first music video.
"Frug" was later included as the final song on the band's B-sides and rarities compilation, Rkives.
The EP was reissued 2 October 2020 on the Little Record Company label on streaming services and originally due on vinyl as well. The vinyl was finally released 20 November 2020 because of production delays and was sold out during pre-order before the release date.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Initial Friend” is 1999 EP by Rilo Kiley. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Initial, Friend and Rilo, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1999 EP by Rilo Kiley” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7742042. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1999, 2000, 2001 and 1998.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “The Initial Friend” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.