BUILT TO SPILL
You In Reverse
Warner Bros.
· Almost too much of a good thing on the long awaited new album from Doug Martsch.
As the guitarist for Built to Spill, Doug Martsch has always overwritten. One of the greatest things about the band’s 1999 indie-rock masterpiece, Keep it Like a Secret, was that there was just so much guitar. Martsch would solo and solo and solo some more, but his epic singalongs never felt overlong. Two albums later, the average song length has swelled by at least a minute, and while the prospect of an eight-minute single is initially exciting, You in Reverse feels a little bloated.
That’s not to say that this album isn’t bursting with great ideas. "Conventional Wisdom" blasts out a shamelessly happy lead line before breaking down into a Neil Young-inspired freak-out. Scott Plouf’s relentless drumming on "Goin’ Against Your Mind" anchors the song’s layers of sound. And to top it off, Martsch’s voice is as sweet as ever. Quality isn’t the issue, but listenability is. Each song has enough going on that it could easily be two or three, and although they all start strong it’s easy to lose interest. Criticizing a band for trying too hard is admittedly harsh, but it’s what makes You in Reverse a good album instead of a great one.
|
Copyright ©2006 FFWD. All rights reserved.