Are They Built To Last?
Built To Spill-Untethered Moon
6.8/10
Let me preface this review by saying Built To Spill is a legendary band, and nothing they will ever do can change that for me. I remember listening to There's Nothing Wrong With Love for the first time, and just being amazed. The album is hooky, instrumental, and very emotive, but it is also very distinct. Once I heard this record, I knew I absolutely loved this band. I later proceeded onto the band's later efforts. Perfect From Now On and Keep It Like A Secret blew my mind, and I couldn't wait to delve in even further into their discography. As I ventured further on into their discography I realized this band is pretty incapable of making something bad. Literally every album they've ever released I have enjoyed. While I still enjoy these records, I cannot say that these 2000s records even hold a candle to their early efforts though. I don't deny that this band can still rock, and that their 2000s records have some gems, but few records will ever make me feel like those early BTS records. This album gave me high hopes though. It is their first record in 6 years, which means hard work was put in, and it also was kicked off by a great single Living Zoo. It may have foolish to think this, but I thought BTS was about to put out another classic record. Unfortunately, Built To Spill was pretty far off from accomplishing this; In fact, this may be my least favorite Built To Spill record to date.
This is not to say Untethered Moon is bad, it's far from it, it just lacks comparatively to an incredible discography. I think one of the big issues with this album is its over simplistic nature. On Perfect From Now On Built To Spill showed us that they could make soaringly beautiful Indie Rock arrangements, but on this record most of the arrangements are pretty simple. Don't get me wrong, there are some real jams on here, but most of the songs are just filled with chords. This kind of bogs down the whole album for me. These tracks are especially disappointing because the high points of this album are so high. Living Zoo shows just how well BTS play together as they seamlessly groove from accelerandos, to mid-tempo grooves. The lyrics on this also seem to be deep and dark. Martsch is just as sharp as ever, and his story on this track is very compelling. I absolutely love the hook on this track. All Our Songs is another highlight here. The song is a driving and forceful piece work that reinforces that these dudes can pack a punch. The song is a journey, and honestly it just keeps your head bobbing all the way through. The closing track is also amazing. When I'm Blind displays incredible guitar work, and dark cryptic lyrics. The guitar work on here was seriously so much more complex than any song on here, which is both exciting and very disappointing. They seriously could have done with more songs like When I'm Blind, and less songs like On The Way, Never Be The Same, CREB, and Some Other Song. These songs are so simple that they really lose my interest. It is so evident that Martsch and company are capable of so much more, even at such an old age. These tracks aren't terrible, but to stack them up along tunes such as Car or Carry The Zero would be absolutely criminal. The songs don't feel nearly as intimate or full, and this makes me kind of sad. The worst track on here to me is Never Be The Same. This track literally sounds exactly like Big Me by Foo Fighters. It feels so lazily put together, and that's something I thought I'd never say about Martsch's music. It never gets nearly that bad again thankfully. I think that this album is inconsistent for lack of a better word. The high points are marvelous, and show that this band has plenty of reason to still be around, but sadly the low points show a huge lack of creativity from the band. Still, I would be lying if I said this thing is not still overall good. It is disappointing, but if you love the band, and if you enjoy Rock music, there is still plenty to enjoy.
Overall, I think this record may be Built To Spill's weakest to date, but it certainly still has its bright moments. If anything this album shows that this band still can make catchy and moving indie rock music, even if it is not their artistic peak. While this band may never be the same again, there is truly no reason to feel bad about that. They have given me so much happiness, so I cannot really complain. This album is still solid, but try not to look at its horrendously ugly album artwork.
Best Songs: All Our Songs, Living Zoo, Horizon To Cliff, So, When I'm Blind
Worst Songs: Never Be The Same, On The Way, Some Other Song, CREB
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