Severance’s Adam Scott on Rilo Kiley’s first EP: “world-class songs… holy fuck”

While the world is still reeling from the Severance season 2 finale, Mark S. himself aka Adam Scott spoke to Pitchfork for an edition of their long-running 5-10-15-20 series, for which they ask artists to talk about favorite albums from different periods of their lives, broken up by five-year intervals and starting at five years old. It’s no secret that the veteran actor (who’s also known for Parks & Rec, Party Down, and lots more) is a big music nerd who’s co-hosted podcasts about U2 and R.E.M., and both of those bands make Adam’s list, along with Rilo Kiley, Waxahatchee, Vampire Weekend, 10,000 Maniacs, and more.

Talking about Rilo Kiley (which he picked for age 25), Adam talked about meeting the members of the band (who were also actors themselves) through the film world, and then falling in love with their self-titled 1999 debut EP (aka The Initial Friend):

They were our friends and they were just starting out around that time. I was at their first show at Spaceland, and then I used to go to their shows and sell merch. And they had panties with Rilo Kiley on them. And when my wife and I first met, I was like, “You got to come see my friend’s band.” And we would sell the merch together at those shows. And it was so fun. I knew [guitarist] Blake [Sennett] from Boy Meets World and then knew Jenny [Lewis] through Blake. And then Duke was a really good friend of mine, Pierre de Reeder, we call him Duke. But I remember getting their first record, and just being like, “You guys, these are world-class songs. You guys are writing really good songs. Like, holy fuck.”

About Waxahatchee’s 2024 album Tigers Blood (which he picked for age 50), he said, “I feel like that album just dropped like a bomb. This is some of the best songwriting I’ve heard in so long and just so beautifully rendered. I mean, holy shit… I think it’s like Joshua Tree or Abbey Road. This is a really special album, and I think it will be one of those albums that people will be shining a light on in 25 years.”

Read the rest at Pitchfork, and also check out what Severance star Britt Lower (aka Helly R.) told Pitchfork she was listening to back in 2022, including Patti Smith, X-Ray Spex, Stevie Nicks, and more. Stay tuned for Severance season 3, which is officially confirmed.

Do you think we’ll see Adam Scott at any of Rilo Kiley’s reunion shows this year?