Built To Spill - You In Reverse

Built to Spill is one of those bands that seem to perpetually and blithely fly under the radar. They don’t mull within or protect their underground status, they don’t accommodate the vogue and insincere, and they certainly don’t seem to have any dreams of delving into the meretricious and corrupting world of top forty hitmaking. Instead, Built to Spill appears to be content to exist, to dutifully and magically create fragmented and durable records underlined by their sensible poignancy and singer/guitarist/songwriter Doug Martsch’s circuitous musical architecture.

The band’s newest offering, You In Reverse, comes after over five years of inactivity. It seems to be time well spent, as You In Reverse is a wide-ranging, oft-haunting collection of songs that are an entangled mixture of lugubriosity and impatience. Martsch’s lyrics, aplomb with a finicky sort of maturity, acknowledge personal fault and fracture while simultaneously retaining the musical progressiveness that has defined the band since their 1993 debut, Ultimate Alternative Waivers.

But don’t be fooled by words such as progression, new, and different: this is classic Built to Spill. Martsch’s trademark touches – purposefully roughhewn edges, distinctly high-pitched vocals, and the seamless metamorphosis of discord into glamorous symmetry – pleasantly litter the album. Songs such as Goin’ Against Your Mind and Mess with Time, are punchy, grunge-ish tunes that stand in contrast to the bands more melody driven work on albums such as Keep it Like a Secret and Ancient Melodies of the Future. But even these songs, the figurative oddballs of the record, exist within the BTS’ self-established framework. Take, for example, Mess with Time: For nearly three minutes, the song plods along in an almost Hendrix-like fashion before inexplicably and alluringly metasizing into a nouvelle vague version of reggae. While neither the stiff tones nor the reggae influences fit into the band’s traditional repertoire, the way that Martsch unobstructedly blends the two together is textbook BTS.

Perhaps the most significant track on the album is The Wait. Elastically mellow, the song is defined by its low-key catchiness and Martsch’s unusually frank lyrics. On past albums, even the ultra accessible Keep It Like a Secret, Martsch seemed content to speak in metaphors and other forms of detached language. His words had meaning; it was just less than explicit. But on The Wait, Martsch is personal, touching, important. He eloquently and simply reflects the sense of uncertainty, the metaphorical guillotine of doubt, that hangs above us all: You wait/You wait for darkness, then you wait for day…You wait/You wait for something that will make the waiting worth the wait. It’s the last song on the album and a tactful, memorable way to end.

Throughout their career, Built to Spill has steadfastly refused to become the musical equivalent of the “old dog that teaches itself new tricks.” Sure, all their albums have distinct signatures, but they refuse to reinvent themselves simply for the sake of reinvention. Despite this, Built to Spill has remained relevant, refreshing, exciting. They seem to have a knack for changing just enough to avoid becoming stale or predictable. Perhaps their reluctance to conform to the pitchforkian “flavor of the week” stylings that have consumed the indie scene over the past several has hurt their exposure in the mass market, but at least you wont hear Doug Martsch teaming up with Ben Gibbard on an electronica-emo-dance album anytime soon.