Feb. 23, 2011 - Issue #801 : Amy Goodman
Old Sounds
Built To Spill
There's Nothing Wrong With Love (Up) Originally released: 1994
The immediate draw to BTS is Martsch's voice, injected with such primitive emotion, whether he's singing in a snarky inquisitive tone or crooning so sincerely it is almost too much to handle, you can hear the expression on his face. To add to that, Martsch controls our attention with his inquisitive tone, always inflecting his voice as though he is posing a rhetorical question. His lyrical content and phrasing are very carefully crafted as well, rarely entering the abstract or abandoning the colloquial.
Take for example "Twin Falls" where Martsch moans, "Christmas, Twin Falls, Idaho is her oldest memory / he was only two / it was the first time she felt blue. / Cafeteria Harrison Elementary / Beneath a parachute / I saw her without shoes. / 7UP, I touched her thumb and she knew it was me / Although she couldn't see / unless of course she peeked." Martsch touches on these collective memories of a North American upbringing, romanticizing and paying tribute to humble and esoteric glimpses of childhood, youth, and young adulthood in a modern context.
Nelson and Capps's contribution cannot go unmentioned, though. Originally intent on changing the line up for every album, Martsch replaced Brett Netson and Ralph Youtz—who had played on the debut Ultimate Alternative Wavers—with Brett Nelson on bass and Andy Capps on drums for this follow up record. The result was a less rock 'n' roll oriented approach that left more room for pop variations and opportunities for slowed-down ballads. Nelson's almost-jazzy bass lines and Martsch's slightly dissonant, Hawaiian-sounding guitar responses on "Reasons," the second and arguably the strongest track on TNWWL, demonstrates the matchless chemistry that dominates the album. The three of them fearlessly occupy several stratas of noisiness and business, not too proud to make it simple when it needs to be, nor afraid to make it impressive when there's room to strut.
It is difficult to discern how much of this success is owing to producer Phil Ek who, after making his big break producing TNWWL, went on to be demanded by similar indie cupbearers Modest Mouse, The Shins and even Mudhoney.
Built To Spill has had some casualties but continues to bang out incredible records. It is comforting to know that TNWWL was the beginning of a strong career and not the high water mark.
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