The 90s saw a very big influx of great rock albums released, and is known as many as the golden age of alternative rock. Some of the names were very well-known and are 
still household names in the scene, while other names went by largely unnoticed, including my favourite.
Among these were Built to Spill, the Idaho group headed by the still extremely active Doug Martsch, singer-songwriter and guitarist, with a brand of what just feels like 90s rock – almost like a compilation of the 90s in alternative rock. The two big masterpieces to come out of this project were Perfect From Now On and Keep It Like A Secret, in two different strains: pondering, heavy-handed in contrast to poppier, more light-hearted approaches. We’ll be talking about the first.
First of all, one can just look at the song lengths, all ranging around 6 minutes in length – the less direct approach can just be seen straight away, and it pays off because all of the tracks are built excellently, with just the right amount of repetition until they transition to something different amidst the roaring of the distortion-fueled guitars. A sonic wave that just swallows the listener is continually present, in different ways and contexts, which makes silence a valuable, and somewhat rewarding experience, and leads the quieter parts of the album to feel more meaningful and significant. There’s a very strong balance to all of it, and it is perhaps what sets Built To Spill apart from the crowd.
The lyrics are also quite clever and elaborate, from an actual description of what would perhaps be infinity in relative terms in Randy Described Eternity which leads into the chorus that names the album to Velvet Waltz, one of my personal favourites off the record, that deals with the dynamics of romantic relationships:
Was a grave mistake
But how could you have known
The temperature, the distance of the sun
They all have this metaphorical quality to them with a tiny hint of in-your-face exposition, which makes their interpretation vary somewhat from source to source, so it is quite interesting to discuss. Another big highlight of the album is Kicked It In The Sun – which, with Velvet Waltz, makes a very 
interesting follow-up, obviously related to the lyrics quoted above. They tie in extremely well, with this track now dealing with the reflection of what happened, and carrying on the theme of romantic relationships, but now in the scope of moving on. This song segways into their magnus opus inside the magnus opus, Untrustable Pt. 2 (About Someone Else), which is quite obviously about someone else and their struggle to believe in God despite their inability to do so. It works on so many levels, with the tonal changes present just seamlessly flowing into each other and giving us a very layered track with a long story to tell. I can just say: listen to it. I have trouble describing exactly what’s happening as a whole but it just feels right.
And I’d love to see it but it’s something you just feel
And I’d like to feel it but it just isn’t real
And God is whoever you’re performing for
And God is whoever you perform for
Another nice addition that might come as unnoticed and unexpected is the presence of a cello in some of the tracks, which just feels fresh and not really like a gimmick.
In summary, it’s easy to just drone out to this album and lose track of its passing, and it’s a climax-filled ride with a heavy dose of realism that would enamor even the most skeptical soul in the world. There is a lot to write about it but I’ll stop here, because listening is the easiest way to understand it.
Monk Xavier
The Music Monks from Zavodovski Island 