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DiSCUSSZS THE BANDS UPCDWiNG ALBUW
*Q been four years since Built to Spill released Ancient
I I U Melodies of the Future, the Idaho group's most recent
studio album. The gap between albums has grown longer than
frontman Doug Martsch wanted. At one point he had hoped the
group wcu'd be working on a new album by fall of 2003. Now his
sights are set on releasing the long-awaited new album this falL
But Martsch isn't fretting about whether
"I think it sort of has a variety of kinds of songs on it* Martsch
says of the in-progress new album, which, among other guest
appearances, features piano contributions from Quasi's Sam Coombs.
"It might be a little bit on the rock side. It has a couple of kind of
long numbers and a couple of kind of sweet, pretty numbers, kind of
poppy things. I don't know, it just seems kind of like another Built
DON’T STOP THE SHOW
fans of the band have moved on to other
artists during the time between albums. Tm
not too worried about it now,* he says.
“Actually, when I was younger, maybe like
even around [the 1999 album] Keep it Like a
Secret or something, that's when I had that
sort of feeling. That's when I thought This is
done. People are done with Built to SpilL'
• “That's how I felt about music,* he says. “I
wasn't into fads or anything, but when I was
in my mid-20s or whatever, I was pretty
much... the bands that I loved, I was kind of
done with them, except for Sonic Youth. I had
a feeling we were going to go the same way.
But what happens is somehow these young
people listen to it and you get a bunch of new
people. Some people drop off and some new
ones come along. Eventually it is going to
totally slide until no one's interested, and
that's the natural chain of events. Eventually,
my body will break down and my knees won't
work, and then my heart will stop and I'll die."
In speaking with Flagpole, a clearly rejuve
nated Martsch didn't sound anything like
someone on his last legs musically. But after
Ancient Melodies of the Future, there were
enough outward signs to cause some to
wonder if Built to Spill might be reaching the
end of the road. After touring behind the
album, Martsch (vocals-guitar-songwriting)
and his bandmates Scott Plouf (drums) and
Brett Nelson (bass) announced that they were
going on hiatus.
And when Martsch released his solo album
Now You Know later in 2001, that only further
fueled speculation that Built to Spill's days
might be numbered. Martsch, for his part,
always said that Built to Spill would recon
vene after the hiatus. He notes that Now You
Know was actually recorded before Ancient
Melodies of the Future, and it had just taken
him time to arrange for the release of the
album. As it turned out, the hiatus lasted into
2003, when Built to Spill returned to the concert trail with fourth
member, guitarist Jim Roth, in the fold.
The group has been working toward the new studio album ever
since, sandwiching periodic rehearsal and recording sessions around
another batch of tour dates last year. Because most of the songs for
the next album still need to be mixed, Martsch isn't sure exactly
how it will compare to earlier Built to Spill records.
He does say, however, that the still-untitled album might more
closely recall the sprawling rock of the band's 1997 major label
debut Perfect From Now On and Keep It Like a Secret, rather than the
abbreviated numbers off Ancient Melodies. Those two earlier albums
(which followed a pair of records released in 1993 and 1994) each
featured several extended songs that incorporated shifting arrange
ments and brought an unusual level of melodic adventure to the
normally concise pop music form.
to Spill record to me. It doesn't seem like any big departure from
anything we've done before.*
Built to Spill debuted some cuts off the album—songs like
"Traces,* "Liar" and “Conventional Wisdom" (all still tentatively
titled)—at this spring's All Tomorrow's Parties festival in England,
receiving an enthusiastic audience response; some of the new songs
will undoubtedly find their way into Built to Spill's live sets this
spring, Martsch says. The new set figures to be particularly guitar
centric as Brett Netson, who played on Perfect From Now On and the
first Built to Spill album, 1993^ Ultimate Alternative Wavers, joins
the group for the tour. This gives Built to Spill a three-guitar, five-
man lineup.
“We've taken him out [on tour] before [and had] three guitars,
but we had him playing some keyboards too," Martsch says of
Netson. “This time we're just going to let him play guitar all night"
MRDE-UP OREFMS
Alan Sculley
By the time of Ancient Melodies of the Future, Martsch had begun
listening to the stripped-down blues of artists like "Mississippi" Fred
McDowell and that new-found influence helped push him toward
writing somewhat simpler and shorter rock numbers. The new album,
though, should bring back at least a little of the grandeur of the
earlier albums.
r
L
WHO: Built to Spill, Mike Johnson
WHERE: 40 Watt Club
WHEN: Friday; May 20
HOW MUCH: $15
-\
J
20 FLAGP0LE.COM • MAY 18, 2005
TAE WOW YU