Built to Spill founder, frontman and guitar hero Doug Martsch is meticulous.
"That's just the nature of making records," he told the Scene in 2012, laying out his writing process with uncommon candor. "Sometimes it takes many, many tries to come up with something that sounds good to me. ... I'll just keep working on these songs until I figure out how to make them listenable."
It's that formula that, over the course of 23 years, has carried Martsch and his classic-rock-indebted wrecking crew (which in 2013 welcomed a new rhythm section) through eight full-length albums, all but two of which were released via industry juggernauts Warner Bros. — note the irony as I refer to Built to Spill as an "indie-rock band," a designation earned by the group's roots and sonics rather than its label affiliation. It's also a formula that shows in the work, not only because of the entwined guitars and carefully honed arrangements, but also because of Martsch's stealthily brilliant lyrics.
Below you will find a chronological playlist of eight Built to Spill songs — one from each of the group's eight long-players — that serves as an introduction (or a refresher course, if you're an old fan) to a band that helped define the golden age of indie rock.
Ultimate Alternative Wavers, "Nowhere Nothin' Fuckup"
The most memorable track from Built to Spill's 1993 full-length debut, "Nowhere Nothin' Fuckup" opens with a squalling stack of guitars before cruising through a six-plus-minute slacker anthem about a cast of nobodies doing their best to land on their feet. It's the perfect introduction to Martsch, who — then in his mid-20s — was already drawing poetry from the mundane. "In America," he sings over a sea of bending and hammering and noodling, "Every puddle, gasoline rainbow." Though Built to Spill hasn't been playing this one recently, they've been known to throw it into an encore on occasion.
There's Nothing Wrong With Love, "Big Dipper"
It's difficult to select just one track from what is arguably Built to Spill's best record, 1994's There's Nothing Wrong With Love. It's difficult not to select "Car," with its graceful escapist imagery and subtle cello parts; or the beautifully spare and intimate "Twin Falls"; or the strangely beautiful "Distopian Dream Girl," which features the classic lyric, "My stepfather looks like David Bowie / But he hates David Bowie / I think Bowie's cool / I think Lodger rules, and my stepdad's a fool." Hell, it's even difficult not to select the jokey album "preview" bonus track at the end of the record, wherein Martsch & Co. breeze through hypothetical snippets of pop-punk and folk songs they would include on their next record (spoiler: It was a joke, and these songs aren't on the next record). But "Big Dipper" wins the prize thanks to its universal opening lyric: "Once when I was little, someone pointed out to me / Some constellations, but the Big Dipper was all I could see."
Perfect From Now On, "Randy Described Eternity"
The eight songs on Perfect From Now On average out to more than six-and-a-half minutes apiece, and it's in these long passages that Martsch and band hit their stride with lonesome guitars over thick, resilient grooves. The gorgeous "Velvet Waltz" and the accessibly existential "I Would Hurt a Fly" are definite contenders. But album-opener "Randy Described Eternity" wins thanks to lyrics that read like a modern Lars Von Trier-esque take on the Greek Sisyphus myth: Martsch describes a massive metal sphere that floats past Earth every 1,000 years and a protagonist who swipes at it with a feather until it's worn down to the size of a pea. Far out.
Keep It Like a Secret, "You Were Right"
While my two personal favorites on this record are the guitar symphonies "Time Trap" and "Carry the Zero," "You Were Right" lays out the very DNA at the core of Built to Spill's sound. Martsch coasts through lyrics that reference specific songs by everyone from Bob Marley to Bob Dylan, the Stones, Pink Floyd, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and the icon who is cited most frequently as the band's clearest influence, Neil Young. Sure, it could be considered a gimmick — referencing 10 great songs doesn't necessarily make a great song. It just so happens to have worked: This is a great song.
Ancient Melodies of the Future, "Strange"
The opening track of what is probably the most under-sung record in the BTS catalog is a standout not necessarily because of its lyrics or vocal melody — both of which are top-notch — but rather because of its infectious key parts, played dexterously by Quasi member and frequent Built to Spill collaborator Sam Coomes.
You in Reverse, "The Wait"
Thanks to its particularly Young-ian pace and delivery and the sort of wordplay that calls back to Martch's early work, album-closer "The Wait" from 2006's You in Reverse edges out the record's other nine tracks. "You wait for August, then you wait for May," sings Martsch of the sometimes-agonizing and frequently bewildering march of time, before the song gives way to an emotionally satisfying extended instrumental sequence. "You wait for something that'll make the wait worth the wait."
There Is No Enemy, "Aisle 13"
Clocking in at an uncharacteristically brisk three minutes and change, "Aisle 13" from 2009's There Is No Enemy sports the usual BTS hallmarks: mesmerizing guitar work, solid playing and great lyrics. But there's something wholly simple about this song — a short, sweet pop tune, the way Martsch and friends do it, complete with the particularly adorable lyric, "One day I'll come home to find you covered with ants, 'cause you're so sweet."
Untethered Moon, "Living Zoo"
Released just last month, Untethered Moon hasn't been around long enough for any true Built to Spill fan to have listened to it the requisite 9 million times. That said, album single "Living Zoo"Â strikes an immediate chord with its shifting tempo, big breaks, hammering, reverberating guitars and lyrics about the animalistic nature we all possess.
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