Built to Spill - Untethered Moon

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A new Built to Spill album is like going to a family reunion and listening to your favorite crazy uncle that you only see every few years tell a wild story you haven’t heard before.

Gotta Love Built To Spill, they keep to their original style and keep it going with this album. Great to get some new material from them that stays true to their sound! Great album, they should be charging more for it.

Outstanding....The guitar attack on when i'm blind to end the album is epic!

I have always loved built to spill. And this album is just fun to listen to.

Amazing! Love the entire album. Can't stop listening to it. 💙

This is the album I have been waiting for, just a down to earth, fun album. It is an incredible creation after taking a break for such a long time. I sometimes have a hard time first listening to an album, but listening to this one was breathtaking. I found I was humming with the songs as I was hearing them for the first time!

have loved bts since the mid 90's and continue to love them.. this album is different while still being very BUILT TO SPILL. keep 'em coming Doug.. track #1 is my fav.

The album is all that I had hoped for. Thanks again, Doug.

I don't know why but this band reminds me of R.E.M......

Yep, this review is a day early, haven't heard the whole album, but the two singles are great; Built to Spill never has disappointed me, and I don't expect that will change

This is one of my favorite bands. So glad their putting out this album.

If there were more bands who could produce this kind of music the world would be a better place

I love this band. I own every album. That said, after 2006's 'You In Reverse' and 2009's 'There Is No Enemy', I was slightly concerned at what their next album would be like. Would it consist of cumbersome jam songs (although those were great) or would it sound more directed? 2015's 'Untethered Moon' takes things a refreshing new approach to already classic Built to Spill songs. Here is a track by track review: 1. All Our Songs - Wow. What a powerful opener. It definitely grabs the listener and doesn't let them go. This is easily the band's hardest rocking song in their discography. The lyrics are neat, reflecting on the past history of the band (or perhaps just Doug Martsch) and their current state. The production is clean and everything sounds very nice together. The new rhythm section, consisting of Jason Albertini (bass) san Steve Gere (drums) really flexes their muscles here, providing some of the fastest and intricate drumming of any BTS song. Lovely guitar effects throughout and the ending completely blows the roof of with an intense tempo change and crunchy guitar solo. The only possible downside is that being the first track and so good, if an be hard to move on rather than hit repeat again. 10/10. 2. Living Zoo This song has been played live by Built to Spill since 2013. It is a lovely pop oriented song (an appropriate contrast to the first track) which starts with a springy guitar lick followed by about a minute of guitar and drum controlled chaos, before finally landing back into the first verse. This song proves that Doug still has power to his aging voice, with compromised high registers and lively backing vocals (also provided by Martsch in this song). There is not much else to say for this song other than it might get stuck in your head for about a week. 9/10. 3. On the Way It wasn't until about the 3rd or so listen that I began to truly appreciate this song. Its more tamed atmosphere can make it seem belittled in comparison to the first two tracks with its stalwart drumming and acoustic guitar. This is the first song on the record to reflect a possible motif, which is a combination of mortality and the way Doug views his fellow man. "On the way to Mars, we can reminisce... Talk about the people we might miss on Earth" could suggest a frustration Doug has against mankind. Musically, the song sounds a bit like Spoon (only more interesting) with its coffee house acoustic strumming and guitar effects, until the song's coda in which the drums go into double time and out comes the distortion. 8.5/10. 4. Some Other Song This song is beautiful and again offers an insight into the album's motif. It starts out dark and sinister, heavy on the bass distortion, but then out of nowhere comes a beautiful soaring guitar chirp, reminiscent of 'You Are' from 2001's 'Ancient Melodies Of the Future'. The waltz timed singing is wistful and melancholic at the same time, a renowned quality of Doug Martsch's vocal abilities. There is a very audibly pleasing slide guitar solo as well. 10/10. 5. Never Be the Same Much like 'Living Zoo', the main highlight of this song is Doug's somehow-still-kid sounding singing, which is not something to brush off. (You try singing all the chirps and high notes on this song). Even in his 40s, Doug Martsch can still croon like it's 1994. The bassline steals the show here, for me at least. The guitars are almost impossibly squeaky clean (in the best kind of way) and on the whole this song marks a good chill out, an intermission on the vinyl version, as it is the last track on side A. The lyrics seem to reflect the feelings of somebody trying to fufill all of his/her pleasures in life before death comes knocking. A polarizing topic set to such dreamy music. That's the beauty of Built to Spill. 9/10. 6. C.R.E.B. Despite my talking of motifs and lyrical themes, I just can't wrap my head around this one, lyrically. Perhaps I need to know what C.R.E.B. is an abbreviation for first. Musically, it is just as satisfying to the ears as the last and the next. After a string of waltzy, tender songs, this one brings in some attitude in Doug's voice yet again and features prominent backing vocals. Keep a close ear for a neat little bass solo near the middle. 8/10. 7. Another Day Here's where distortion meets it's zenith on the record. Here we have a loose-sounding but tight song about Doug worrying about dying. "The only thing on my mind is getting all these things off my chest before I die". Every twist and turn is full of exciting guitar tricks and a bouncy bass line. Another winner. 9/10. 8. Horizon to Cliff Oddly enough, the slowest song on the record is also the shortest, at a mere 2:44 minutes. Nonetheless, it is the final crooner of the record and succeeds in pulling that last heart string Doug left untouched, the ones about US. Doug songs in the 2nd person here - a nice subtle change of flow, singing "You can fight through all the reasons, or wait another season. Forget about what you wanted, forget your heart is haunted." This line carries some serious weight to it. The song ends just about as quickly as it begins, which could be Doug's way of saying not to worry so much, as there will always be a positive to every negative. 8/10. 9. So Starts out with a classic Built to Spill crunch solo. The first time we hear any real jamming on the record so far and it's short lived, as Doug pulls it in with some tender vocals under a 10 ton guitar tone. I personally enjoyed how the lyrics in this song continue where the previous track, 'Horizon to Cliff' left off, that ultimately there is an explanation to all of life's trivialities. ("Someone, somewhere, somehow said so"). The music is as always satisfying and never, ever dull. The song ends in the wake of one of the album's most memorable lines, "If nobody came to the door, why would you open the door?" 10/10. 10. When I'm Blind The illustrious 8+ minute romp. Hear it to believe it. 9/10.

Really enjoying this. Wasn't too sure at first, but after a couple listens absolutely love this album. Keep it like a secret will always be my favorite bts album, but this one ranks close to that. Definitely better than you in reverse and there is no enemy in my opinion.

cascading, complex music from now-masters of the musical universe.

Built to Spill has always been one of my favorite bands. They continue to show that they can still make amazing songs. I was able to listen to the album through NPR, and I've already listened to it at least 20 times. I would highly recommend this album!

I've been a Doug Martsch fan since his Tree People days. I followed them in their early days in Boise, Idaho--loving the big, grungy guitars and Doug's down to earth, raw and sincere vocals. His love of music is apparent every time I see them perform or listen to a new offering like this one. Everytime Built to Spill puts out another fantastic album I become even prouder of them and happy that they can consistently blow us all away. This one is incredible and I'm honored to support this band's music by buying a few copies!

These guys haven’t changed a bit. This album is every bit as good as anything they’ve ever put out. It’s up there with Keep it Like a Secret as far as my favorite BTS album goes. Fantastic. Impeccable. Just buy it.

Been waiting for this for years. Living Zoo is awesome. This album will be great.

Amazing album. Unline many other bands, this album stays true to their original sound. Every song is distincly Built to Spill. If you like their early albums then you'll love this one.

Been a fan for many years now, I’m glad they put together a new album even though I still enjoy their previous ones still. Seen them live 4 times already and every time I enjoy their shows more and more. Thank you for making great music guys!

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