The newest release by indie-rock band Built to Spill is a kaleidoscopic collaboration of its most recent members. Keeping true to its '60s rock influences, "You in Reverse" takes full advantage of lofty guitar solos and psychedelic sound effects, cowbell included.
"You in Reverse" was released on April 11, and is the first album the group has released in five years.
Built to Spill is the product of Doug Martsch, who has 13 years of dynamic musical experience under his belt. Since the band's creation in 1992, Martsch has been consciously morphing the group and changing its members. "You in Reverse" comes from hours of experimentation with band members Doug Martsch, Scott Plouf, Jim Roth, and Brett Nelson.
The electric guitar mixes and clashes, eventually building off the percussion forming 10 musically charged songs that fit Built to Spill's character.
"Liar" is somewhat reminiscent of The Shins. The fifth track, "Wherever You Go," obscurely references the mind-blowing rockers of Pink Floyd, which subtly floats in and out of the minute-and-a-half musical introduction to the song.
The airy, wispy vocals of "Wherever You Go" are reminiscent of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" or "Hey You," while the super-extended musical interludes are created in the epic shadow of Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond."
The longest song on the album is well over eight minutes, yet sounds more like the music of The White Stripes. "Goin' Against Your Mind" is full of drumbeats and rocking guitar hooks. The lyrics aren't very sophisticated because they consist of only a few repetitious words.
Lyrically, the album is less than impressive. The best writing comes out of "Wherever You Go," and even in that song the constant rhyming becomes annoying.
"Neurons make it right, well how can that explain/ Nobody can tell what the hell they're even saying," chants Martsch, "No one sees it's easier to change/ No one sleeps and no one stays awake/ No one complains."
The creativity is in the melodies and hooks, not the lyrics. Even so, "You in Reverse" is pulled from the sounds of so many great bands, it gets lost in familiarity.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
