Built To Spill

Doug Martsch and Co.'s seventh studio album runs like a restless night's sleep -- slipping sporadically into comfortable numbness and lethargic indifference before reaching the sort of acuity one can get in a delirious state of insomnia. Martsch himself even seems caught up in the metaphor, sounding both unsettled ("Stay out of my nightmares, stay out of my dreams") and content with it ("Life's a dream, realistic as it seems"). The guitars, too, are restive, groaning through stupors of reverb before -- with the help of the occasional horn or cello -- slowly shaking awake for some fine jamming.

Built to Spill CEO Doug Martsch is alt-rock's Thomas Pynchon, holed up in a remote studio
(Boise, Idaho) and issuing immaculate artworks when he damn well pleases. His latest is
classic latter-day BTS, a crystal palace of refracting guitar tones and textures, walls rising
majestically above his sweet, nasal mewl. What's on Martsch's mind? What you'd expect
from a dude spending lots of time in his head: dreams, boredom, life's meaning o... More >