When L.A. indie-rock group Rilo Kiley officially announced in 2011 that they had broken up, the possibility of any new material effectively vanished. When combined with lead singer Jenny Lewis’ burgeoning solo career and guitarist Blake Sennett’s report of the band’s inner toxicity, Rilo Kiley seemed deader than dead.

Therefore, the release of the cleverly titled “RKives,” a compilation of Rilo Kiley rarities and previously unreleased songs, feels more significant than other albums of this nature. Though not a new album in the more traditional sense, “RKives” brings listeners back into the world of one of the past decade’s best and most significant bands.

The album opens with “Let Me Back In,” which serves ably in satiating the desires of long-suffering Rilo Kiley fans and also as a great introductory track for new listeners. Though the track travels down the well-worn “I Love L.A.” path, Jenny Lewis gracefully treats the city as an accepting hometown — a nice change of pace from the usual celebration of skeez and debauchery.

Tracks like “I Remember You” illustrate the band’s sonic diversity. Taking the only salvageable parts of the ’80s aesthetic, the song is a beautiful duet between Lewis and songwriter Benji Hughes. Hughes’ Elvis Costello-like vocals recall Lewis’ duet with the actual Elvis Costello on her frantic solo track “Carpetbaggers.”

Despite not having the real thing in studio, “I Remember You” is a superior song on all accounts.

“RKives” does hit a rough patch toward the middle, especially with the Zondo remix of “Dejalo,” a track off Rilo Kiley’s last official record, the hit-or-miss “Under the Blacklight.” “Dejalo” is one of the band’s weaker tracks, and the club-jam remix goes from mildly intriguing to ridiculously irritating very quickly. Rapper Too $hort also makes a cameo, but, frankly, his verse is too long.

Immediately following the remixed “Dejalo” is “A Town Called Luckey” — a title that suggests a long-lost Britney Spears track. Despite a fantastically random death-metal scream from Lewis, the otherwise melodramatic “Luckey” doesn’t make much of an impact.

The back half of the album, however, does feature its best moment: a demo version of the Blake Sennett-sung “Rest of My Life.” The track, originally off Rilo Kiley’s debut “Takeoffs and Landings,” gets the stripped-down acoustic treatment on “RKives,” courtesy of the guitarist. Sennett has always been an expressive singer, but his emoting always feels sincere rather than self-indulgent.

“Rest of My Life” is an affecting song on its own, but in hindsight, this demo version becomes much more haunting. In the chorus of the song, Sennett sings, “For the rest of my life/I’m gonna search for someone just like you.” Given the rest of the band’s history, “you” could easily refer to Lewis. Unfortunately, it seems Sennett may never find someone who could replicate the musical chemistry he shared with Lewis — the chemistry that made Rilo Kiley so special.

Rilo Kiley were a band in the truest sense — each of the four members brought a style and flavor that couldn’t be reproduced with any other combination. While Lewis’ solo career has had its moments — “Rise Up with Fists!!” comes to mind — she hasn’t made anything close to Rilo Kiley’s finest achievements, and “RKives” gives fans the opportunity to relive some of those achievements in a new light.

Josh Johnson is arts editor. Email him at [email protected].