I came late to the Built To Spill party. I am not sure at all on how I missed it when they released those albums in the ’90s because it sounds pretty much exactly like the kind of music I loved during that time. Thankfully I have a good friend who set me straight (thanks, Lieb!) and made me see the light.

I’m bad at describing bands in words. Believe me, I’ve tried it before. I even wrote for some music magazines for a while to get some extra cash back when my full time job at Rounder paid me $5.25 an hour. There are some highlights which I have stowed away as keepsakes, but by-and-large it’s a kid writing mid-level stuff about bands that have come-and-gone so fast it makes my head spin. My problem, and it affected my writing and arguably affected my record label, was that I’m just too much of a music FAN to let writing or business get in the way.

So, as succintly as possible, I can tell you that Built To Spill – in my own eyes – are some kind of cross between the rock side of Neil Young and the catchy side of Pavement. Lyrically, Doug Martsch isn’t one of those guys who writes songs that are more like the former and less clever and biting than the latter/Malkmus.

There are certain songs, though, that Martsch has written that just work for no reason. For example, one of my favorite Built To Spill tracks manages to name check Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Kansas, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, John Mellancamp, Jim Morrison – all in a song under five minutes. It might just be my favorite Built to Spill song and provides a pretty good definition of the band without me having to type all this crap trying to describe it. Fuck it. Just listen by clicking the play button below.

You were wrong when you said
Everything’s gonna be alright
You were wrong when you said
Everything’s gonna be alright

You were right when you said
All that glitters isn’t gold
You were right when you said
All we are is dust in the wind
You were right when you said
We are all just bricks in the wall
And when you said manic depression’s a frustrating mess

You were wrong when you said
Everything’s gonna be alright
You were wrong when you said
Everything’s gonna be alright

You were right when you said
You can’t always get what you want
You were right when you said
It’s a hard rain’s gonna fall
You were right when you said
We’re still running against the wind
And life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone
You were right when you said
This is the end

Do you ever think about it?
Do you ever think about it?
Do you ever think about it?
Do you ever think about it?