Built to Spill: Live

I don't know about you, but when I think of Live, I think of an alterna-teen schlock band whose Billboard triumph was a perverse song about giving birth—a symbolic reminder, if you will, for the indie-ustry to stay as far from live as possible. Pavement, for one, never released a live album.

Until now. Built to Spill's latest, Live, is a postmortem compilation of Pavement songs written and performed by Built to Spill. Jim Roth's shambling riffs on "Randy Described Eternity" follow Pavement's Spiral Stairs on "Stop Breathin'." The Great Wall of Sound that ends "The Plan" began in Pavement's "Fillmore Jive." Even more egregiously, when Doug Martsch sings, "After a while/It hurts to smile," all you can hear is Steve Malkmus crooning "After the glow/The scene, the stage" to the same exact melody.

Lucky for Built to Spill, Pavement's last two albums—Brighten the Corners and Terror Twilight—both pretty much sucked. You can really make a case that Built to Spill's recent work continues where their godfathers left off (a little like how Goodfellas makes a much better Godfather III than the real thing).

The problem with Live, though, is that it is just that—live. Some of the tunes are twinkly enough—like "The Plan" and "Stop the Show"—but thanks, I suppose, to the agoraphobia that usually makes garage-pop tall, dark and handsome, they've lost their luster in front of an audience. The best chance at some live magic comes on the last track, "Broken Chairs," which Pearl Jams for an excruciating 19 minutes and 5 seconds. It's really good at times—but Martsch's whistling brings back stinging memories of the Scorpions' "Winds of Change." Unfortunately, it's the only wind of change blowing through the album. (Warner Bros.)

—Ian Blecher

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