Synopsis

Rilo Kiley perform "The Frug" in a loose, low-budget setting, with Jenny Lewis singing directly to the camera while the rest of the band plays around her. The performance footage is intercut with scenes from the independent film Desert Blue, creating a hybrid band-and-soundtrack video. The clip matches the song's playful references to dance crazes with an intentionally homespun presentation, capturing the Los Angeles band's early charm before its record-deal years.

Factoids & Trivia

• "The Frug" was Rilo Kiley's first music video, made before the band had released a CD or signed a record deal.

• The video incorporates footage from Desert Blue, the 1998 independent film starring Christina Ricci, Kate Hudson, Casey Affleck, and Brendan Sexton III.

• Rilo Kiley's connection to Desert Blue helped bring the band attention outside the Los Angeles scene. The song, along with "85," appeared on the film's soundtrack.

• The clip received late-night exposure on MTV's alternative program 120 Minutes and was also placed into rotation on MTV2.

• The song's references to the Frug, the Freddie, the Robocop, and the Smurf draw on established dance crazes. The mention of the Frug and Freddie also connects loosely with Jenny Lewis' childhood acting career, since she performed those dances in Troop Beverly Hills.

• The soundtrack versions of "The Frug" and "85" used slightly different, sparser vocal mixes from the versions associated with the band's early self-titled release.

• Although "The Frug" functioned as the lead track promoted from the Desert Blue soundtrack, it was not issued as a conventional commercial CD single.