Built to Spill's Keep it Like a Secret

Listen to clips from this CD at Planet of Sound.

Built to Spill operates on the premise that guitar playing doesn't have to be repetitive, three-chord, Eve6-ish crap, which isn't such a radical idea--the world just needs to be reminded of it occasionally. Vaughan and Hendrix may be dead, and Page might seem like he is, but that's no reason to start listening to Dave Matthews and his Band acousticky of merry men. Built to Spill is going to put a catchy, weighty, guitar-driven song in front of you that won't tip into the annoyance bin after a few listens. It approaches the delicious epiphany of Stereolab, plus more guitar, minus the girl.

Built to Spill can safely be called the best band ever to come out of Idaho. Keep It Like a Secret should only further solidify their hold on this, rock's most elusive honor. On their last album, Perfect from Now On, the band indulged itself with multiple guitorgies and only one song under five minutes long. Perfect was an adventure through carefully constructed magical guitarscapes, and Secret simply continues this theme while shortening the tours and paying a bit more attention to the vocals and rhythm section. "Center of the Universe" almost merits mainstream radio play, conjuring visions of a more muscular Violent Femmes. The appraisal of rock's best clichés in "You Were Right" might be the smartest rock song ever.

Without losing any of the artistic grandeur of Perfect, the increased poppiness of Secret hearkens back to the band's more accessible earlier work in There's Nothing Wrong With Love. The two recent albums perfectly complement one another: Secret works both as a stand-alone and as a lead-in to the more selfish artistry of Perfect. (Warner Bros.)

--Daniel McGarry

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