So what do we have here? Nothing much: Just a landmark indie rock LP produced by a great band whose frontman, Doug Marsch, sounds eerily like Perry Farrell, plays some of the most astounding guitar you’ll ever hear, and writes both fractured songs that are both cosmic and majestic and tend to devolve into thrilling guitar jams as well as gnomic lyrics in Dylan Accusatory Mode, which has always been Dylan’s best mode if you ask me.
1997’s Perfect From Now On never fails to amaze. Every one of its eight tracks is long enough to wander off into an instrumental jam, and while the songs may sound meandering, they’re really just fanciful examples of architectural genius, and sure to keep you mesmerized. Let the critics compare Built to Spill to Neil Young and J. Mascis; what I hear are the early psychedelic sounds of The Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev, only more abstract and minus (or so I suspect based on no facts whatsoever) the derangement factor of LSD.
Opener “Randy Described Eternity” is a template for most of the songs on Perfect From Now On. It opens on a slow note, then swells to majestic proportions only to grow quiet and swell again, at which point Marsch commences to play some amazing guitar. On “I Would Hurt a Fly” Marsch is tortured by the buzzing of a fly, and sings, “There’s a mean bone in my body,” before singing, “I hurt a fly.” He doesn’t want be confused with a nice guy, I guess. Then the song segues into instrumental mode, and if part two doesn’t sounds like it fits with part one that’s just a demonstration of Marsch’s ingenious ability to fuse together disparate song shards in a way that awes and amazes.
It takes 3-plus minutes for Marsch to commence singing on the wonderful “Stop the Show,” while “Velvet Waltz” is a lovely spinning thing; “Cold call everybody,” sings Marsch, “But you haven’t sold a thing.” And after that, the tune goes anthemic on your ass, before it kicks into a powerful guitar jam that will make you forget all about Mr. Neil Young’s “Like a Hurricane.” As for closer “Untrustable- Part 2 (About Someone Else),” it’s a tour de force, and opens with the great lines, “You can’t trust anyone/Because you’re untrustable.” Then the song cranks into third gear before shifting towards utter majesty, and it’s almost more than my poor commoners’ ears can handle.
If you’ve never listened to Built to Spill you owe it yourself to turn on Perfect From Now On. Marsch is a bona fide guitar hero, and knows how to write songs that climb, step by disparate step, towards the heavens, or the sun in the case of the lovely “Kicked It in the Sun.” You’ve heard of garage rock? Well this is architectural rock, or math rock minus all the annoying algebra. Abstract? Sure. But don’t confuse it with prog rock. It bites, and bites hard. Pleading is unbecoming, but I’ll do it anyway. Check out this goddamn album, puhlease. You’ll grow to love it so much you’ll wear out the grooves on the vinyl, guaranteed or your money back.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A
