IN REVIEW: Built To Spill - "Untethered Moon"

 

Veterans of the indie rock fringes, Built to Spill have been quietly building worthy pieces to their formidable discography for over twenty years. Untethered Moon marks their first album in almost six years and, as excruciating as the wait has been for fans, it seems to have certainly been for the best.

Whereas previous record There Is No Enemy sounded a little tired and frustrated in places, Untethered Moon finds Built to Spill refreshed and rocking (maybe we can attribute it to the new rhythm section). Opening track All Our Songs comes crashing in on a jangly, muscular wave, an unashamed slice of retro that calls back Screaming Trees and '80s era R.E.M. in equal measure. Lead single Living Zoo has so much energy that it can't keep its foot off the pedal, accelerating over its first 90 seconds before finding a suitable cruising speed. Never Be the Same, meanwhile, is one of their most immediate singles to date; if it were released a couple decades ago, it's exactly the kind of track that MTV would have been all over (for those under a certain age, MTV was where people watched music videos before YouTube).

Even some of the slower, more laid back material has bite. Take Some Other Song, which nods to Rush's Working Man en route to its thick, crunchy balladry. C.R.E.B. brings a muscular swagger that's half Neil Young and half Jack White to what would have been a run of the mill track in the hands of a lesser band. It's immediately followed by Another Day, a pummeling waltz that piles on growling guitars and crashing drums to serve as a testament to the tune's urgency.

Closing track When I'm Blind ends the album in blissfully unhinged fashion, jagged guitars puncturing the track rhythmically before slashing and swarming. The rest of the band starts to catch up around the five minute mark as the song boils over, sputters, restarts, and lunges toward reprisal. Fans of the band's early work won't be surprised by the sprawl, but they may have wished for a little more of this on the album.

Loud, direct and a lot of fun, Untethered Moon may be Built to Spill's most energetic and immediate record since they signed to Warner Bros. almost two decades ago; and, in a way, the only thing more surprising than Built to Spill's eighth record sounding so fresh and exciting is the fact that Built to Spill has survived on the indie rock fringes while being signed to a major label pretty much the entire time.

April 21, 2015 • Warner Bros.

Highlights Living Zoo • Never Be the Same • Some Other Song