Remembering - Built To Spill

Their musical method on There’s Nothing Wrong With Love was unlike that of any other album released at the time. Take the opening track “In The Morning” for example: what begins as sloppy, perhaps even out-of-tune, jangly guitars becomes, with just a couple of simple drum kicks, clear and bright, before transitioning into a dreamy collection of chords and a laid-back solo. As the track slows down near its conclusion, the shoegaze roots of the band peek through under hazy instrumentals and muffled vocals—this is about the most abrupt Doug Martsch’s voice will get on this record. Were this another band, this track would indisputably be a standout, for having reflected so much technical skill and expertise in a mere two-minute and thirty-second song. For Built To Spill, however, this is just the beginning. We can hear an elastic, shining bass cutting through the grungiest of noise in tracks like “Cleo” and “Stab”—bassist Brett Nelson does more than provide stability for guitars, drums, and vocals; he leads by differentiating his playing while still complementing the song's melody. Additionally, the drumwork on this album is incredibly flexible and suited to each song; with so many uniquely structured tracks, the percussion still fits in perfectly, even on “Israel’s Song,” which features a slower section. Built to Spill works in mysterious ways—one of them being the addition of orchestral twists to indie rock. Cozy cellos appear on the tracks “Fling” and “Car,” either enhancing the hypnotic calm of acoustic guitars or providing a deep background for the thunderous electric ones. This is to say that the intricate blending of instruments and technique used by the band members helped to solidify their notable ‘slacker rock sound, characterized by whiny or unenthusiastic vocals, and mellow instrumentals.

The music is one thing, but the lyrics might be the most underrepresented aspect of the entire album. To put it plainly, Built To Spill has very honest and interesting song topics; even when Martsch is singing about nothing, he’s doing it poetically. Of course, there will always be remnants of their ‘slacker’ mentality, especially on that starting track that indulges itself in complaining about morning exhaustion: ‘In the morning / Feeling half-right / Appearing normal.’ However, this album has always had a curious fascination with youth, dreams, and love. A clever standout that devout fans praise for its ingenuity is the fourth track, “Cleo.” It details the perspective of a fetus being in the womb, as stated in an article with Broken Dreams Club, which is about Martsch’s child. The lyrics are thought-provoking and philosophical, which is what distances the band from others, with sentimental questions asking, “Ain't it strange that I can dream? / When there's nothing I have ever seen? / Ain’t it strange that I have brain activity?’ Clearly, there is a deviation between the lyrics of this record and the music popular culture lent itself to in the late nineties. The band, hailing from Boise, has a knack for expressing sentimental feelings about childhood, especially when tied to their rural home state of Idaho. A track representative of the “small-town” love story trope is the bittersweet track “Twin Falls.” The nearly two-minute song is packed with nostalgia, longing, and learning to accept loss. We are taken through the thrill of an elementary school crush, ‘7 up, I touched her thumb / And she knew it was me’ before the narrator moves away, ‘My mom's good, she got me out of / Twin Falls, Idaho’ and their love interest is confined to the life of being a small-town mother, ‘Last I heard was she had twins / Or maybe it was three / Though I've never seen / But that don't bother me.’ In so few lyrics and a disorganized pattern, Built To Spill chronicles the woes and melancholic ending of young love; these small-town songs are evocative of their slacker and shoegaze roots, which take a gloomy view of almost anything. 

A track I’d like to highlight as perhaps the most lyrically and technically impressive is “Distopian Dream Girl,” the tenth track (and, yes, it is supposed to be spelled like that). It is surprisingly modern, although the lyrics, in reference to Bowie’s Lodger, might date it a bit. It combines boyish troubles with philosophical criticism that can be likened to solipsism—the school of thought that, as the Cambridge Dictionary defines, “the belief that only your own experiences and existence can be known.” Contrasting trivial lyrics like “My stepfather looks just like David Bowie / But he hates David Bowie” with captivating ones like “Without me, there's nothing / I'm the only thing that dies / If it came down to your life or mine / I would do the stupid thing / And let you keep on living’ is essential to what makes Built To Spill, and slacker rock as a genre, so unique. The exceptional lyricists of the genre are improper and unconventional, but they explore tentative views on life—Martsch is similar to an Issac Brock, opening a philosophical dialogue to discuss greater issues while maintaining their lackadaisical attitude as a vessel. 

By now, I’m sure you're eager to give this album a spin, and if you’re a solid fan of Built To Spill, I hope I did it justice. If you like artists like The Flaming Lips, My Bloody Valentine, or even more popular bands like Radiohead, you’re sure to like this record and Built To Spill in general. They are appreciated as one of the most impressive indie rock bands, and not without good reason, but if you’re skeptical, just start with the more approachable Perfect From Now On. There’s something for everyone to love. I hope this album enters your rotation soon, as it has been in mine for some time. Thanks for reading.