{"id":3486,"date":"2015-06-12T13:20:45","date_gmt":"2015-06-12T17:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=3486"},"modified":"2015-06-24T15:31:33","modified_gmt":"2015-06-24T19:31:33","slug":"built-to-spill-untethered-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/built-to-spill-untethered-moon\/","title":{"rendered":"Built to Spill <br>Untethered Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/built_to_spill-untethered_moon.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-3487\" src=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/built_to_spill-untethered_moon.jpg\" alt=\"Built to Spill, Untethered Moon\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/built_to_spill-untethered_moon.jpg 250w, https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/built_to_spill-untethered_moon-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a>There&#8217;s a constant debate among my music snob peers as to whether our &#8217;90s obsessions\u2014Pavement, GBV, Olivia Tremor Control, Bjork\u2014will stand the test of time. When we are cruising in the countryside in our sixties will the deejay cue up a Liz Phair song on the classic rock station? A lot of the music of that decade has not been built to last and fallen through the cracks already. An even smaller number, though, has survived. Doug Martsch is such a survivor, and based on the tenacity shown at a recent show, he&#8217;s still got hooks for days. I found myself playing Built to Spill &#8220;guitar hero&#8221; to the seamless flow of the band&#8217;s everlasting hit parade. The guy deserves immortality if only for a song like &#8220;Car,&#8221; yet with <i>Untethered Moon<\/i> (Warner Bros. Records), his band\u2019s eighth album, he shows no sign of slowing down.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Living Zoo&#8221; is a perfect encapsulation of everything that is irresistible about Built to Spill&#8217;s back catalog. Crammed with melodies that appear from the aether following wooly guitar freakouts and sublime jams, it has enough to instantly fill any void the band&#8217;s four-year absence has created. It&#8217;s the sound of rejuvenation and of a confidence that Martsch can still write an epic song, both sonically challenging and catchy as a Top 40 hit.<\/p>\n<p>Another testament to Built to Spill&#8217;s staying power is that they remain tethered to Warner Bros. and apparently have carte blanche. <i>Untethered Moon<\/i> goes off the rails in spots, like on the campy operatics of &#8220;C.R.E.B.&#8221; and the eight-minute finale &#8220;When I&#8217;m Blind,&#8221; full of histrionic fireworks courtesy of Martsch. But these moments feel more experimental than conceptually crafted, and there\u2019s a sense that they let loose in the studio. When the album peaks, as on the vagabond anthem &#8220;On the Way&#8221; and the bubblegum single &#8220;Never Be the Same,&#8221; it&#8217;s reminiscent of Built to Spill&#8217;s golden era, like a stopgap between the pop whimsy of <i>There&#8217;s Nothing Wrong with Love<\/i> and the mindful sprawl of <i>Perfect From Now On<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>Few bands who have survived the era can say they are still making vital records of this quality. Sure it&#8217;s nostalgia that drives the most interest in something like <i>Untethered Moon<\/i>, but it&#8217;s also cemented a perception that when looking back on Built to Spill 20 years from now they will be one of America&#8217;s greatest living rock bands and not just the fodder of the Alternative Nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There&#8217;s a constant debate among my music snob peers as to whether our &#8217;90s obsessions\u2014Pavement, GBV, Olivia Tremor Control, Bjork\u2014will stand the test<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[34,1305,1170],"class_list":["post-3486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-review","tag-built-to-spill","tag-warner-bros-records"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Built to Spill Untethered Moon - The Agit Reader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/built-to-spill-untethered-moon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Built to Spill Untethered Moon - The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There&#039;s a constant debate among my music snob peers as to whether our &#039;90s obsessions\u2014Pavement, GBV, Olivia Tremor Control, Bjork\u2014will stand the test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/built-to-spill-untethered-moon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-12T17:20:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-06-24T19:31:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/built_to_spill-untethered_moon.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin J. Ellliott\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin J. Ellliott\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/built-to-spill-untethered-moon\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/built-to-spill-untethered-moon\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin J. 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