Pioneering Northwest rockers Built to Spill will bring their waving, winding, outright weird brand of cosmic jams to Northampton tonight, with opening act Revolt Revolt.
The five-piece band, hailing from Boise, Idaho and comprising of frontman singer/guitarist Doug Martsch, bassist Bret Netson, guitarist Jim Roth, multi-instrumentalist Brett Nelson and drummer Scott Plouf, will likely draw from some of their most recent work, 2009’s “There is No Enemy,” as well as treating fans to hits from some of their seminal works, like the group’s first major breakthrough “There’s Nothing Wrong With Love,” released in 1994 and hits from 1997’s “Perfect from Now On” and 1999’s “Keep it Like a Secret.”
Built to Spill has taken many shapes and incarnations over their now 18-year career, but they have always been marked by their distinctly rippling, undulating guitar lines and contemplative lyrics pondering life’s complexities and twists.
“There’s Nothing Wrong with Love” includes many of the group’s most noteworthy works, starting with the slow but burgeoning “Reasons,” and progressing into the fast, choppy and enlivened “Big Dipper,” before segueing into what may be their most well-known piece, the iconic, melancholy “Car.”
“Perfect from Now On,” their next release, is composed of long, almost epic jams incorporating new instrumentation into their sound, like the haunting violin solo on the second track “I Would Hurt a Fly.”
“Perfect” is more melodic and more produced than “Love,” but retains a fundamentally fuzzy, washed out sound. Listeners tomorrow may get a taste of BTS’ homage to the 60s on “Perfect” and “Kicked it in the Sun.”
“Keep it Like a Secret” saw the group trend back towards choppier, louder, less protracted jams and finds a way to straddle their earlier work.
Standouts from that work include “Time Trap,” a five-minute-plus jam examining paradigm’s evolution, “You Were Right,” which pays tribute to the enduring truth of lines from iconic 60s songs, and “Carry the Zero,” another long jam with Built to Spill’s characteristically spiraling, weaving guitar lines and Martsch’s surreal, almost entranced vocals.
In the last decade, the group has released three new albums, 2000’s “Ancient Melodies of the Future,” “You in Reverse,” released in 2005 to less critical acclaim and last year’s “There is No Enemy,” a more mature volume which saw the band turn down the energy but stay with their now time-tested formula.
Built to Spill ascended to prominence around the same time as several musical contemporaries like Modest Mouse and Pavement. Collectively, the three made an invaluable contribution to our current indie music sphere.
Built to Spill, however, are no relics. They promise to bring to Pearl Street a lively blend of their now quite extensive volume.
You’ll be right to head down to Pearl Street tomorrow around 9 and check them out for $20.
Sam Butterfield can be reached at [email protected].
Bobby West • Sep 29, 2010 at 12:20 am
There are so many factually incorrect pieces of information in this article, that it is a wonder if this person even knows who Built to Spill are, besides the 2 songs Car and I would Hurt a Fly.