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Among the brightest stars in the firmament of 90's indie(pendent) music, there is undoubtedly Doug Martsch who, after being part of the Treepeople of Seattle during the grunge-era—a band mimicking giants like the late Replacements of Paul Westerberg without ever truly finding its own definitive identity—wrote with Built to Spill, formed in his native Boise (Idaho), some of the most personal and authentic pages of the decade. A sort of contemplative and spiritual counterpart to his guardian figure, J Mascis, Doug Martsch adopted his neurotic guitar work, though with relaxed nerves. Those terrible maelstroms of feedback, distortions, and dissonances could now freely float in labyrinthine psychedelic suites or expand into interminable jams, following the precepts of ancient masters of deconstruction (Captain Beefheart, his favorite artist; Syd Barrett; Velvet Underground). It is not onanism, in the case of Built to Spill, to speak of post-psychedelia.
"Ultimate Alternative Wavers" (C/Z Records, 1993), their debut, is a great manifesto of indecision. Doug Martsch's style, still budding, is still teetering between Sonic Youth-rooted atonal guitar work ("The First Song") and J Mascis-style major crescendos ("Built to Spill"), although the void placed between this doubt is amply filled by the two unpredictable jams of "Shameful Dread" and "Built Too Long", more reminiscent of the ramshackle, wild model of early Flaming Lips than the learned and ornately adorned suites they would master in later albums. At times, it seems that the songs of this debut are almost imbued with a rush to showcase every facet of their spectrum—from the folk nursery rhyme of "Lie for a Lie" to the introspective atmosphere of "Get a Life", which then unfolds into the static psychedelia of "Hazy", vaguely bucolic in flavor, yet never reaching an effective focus of the latter. Perhaps due to this tendency for dispersion, it is a somewhat underrated debut but already capable of showcasing all the hallmarks of their originality, as well as containing their first classic. "Nowhere Nothin' Fuckup" indeed is a pure Neil Young-style electric ballad, with lyrics semi-stolen from that "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" written by Lou Reed back in 1970, which quickly becomes their showpiece in live performances and generational anthem for all the loner/loser in America.
If, later on, Built to Spill would reach their formal peaks in the undisputed masterpiece of "Perfect From Now On", here instead lies the proverbial expressive urgency of every debut. Doug Martsch, still undecided between acoustic and distorted, between neurosis and contemplation, between noise and quiet, crosses here the embryonic stage of his subsequent supernova, capable of merging all these factors into a single amalgam. And we, more as lovers of indie-rock than of astronomical geography, cannot afford not to follow a phenomenon of this caliber from its beginning to its end. In short, this "Ultimate Alternative Wavers" is yet another must-have for all those who would tattoo that "Just gimme indie rock!" on their bicep.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
03 Revolution (04:24)
I'm killing time
want it all the time
want it to go away I'm stealin' time
want time all the time
or want it to go away revolution
revolution
revolution
revolution
how come people don't fuck it up
it's like turning on the heat I'm just in time
time to see it all
make it go away I change my mind
change it all the time
want it to go away revolution
revolution
revolution
revolution
how come people don't fuck it up
it's like turning on the heat
05 Nowhere Nothin' Fuckup (06:33)
say a word for Jimmy Brown
been nowhere he's done nothing
probably not even a shirt on his back
ain't got nothing at all
say a word for Ginger Brown
walks around with his head down
they took the shoes from his feet
threw the poor boy out in the street nowhere nothin' fuckup
nowhere nothin' fuckup
nowhere nothin' fuckup
nowhere nothin'
nowhere nothin' now say a word for Karen Brown
she can't tell the night from the day
they threw her out in the street
just like a cat she landed on her feet
say a word for Charlie Brown
ain't got nothin' at all
everyday she falls in love and every night she falls
and when she does it's with a nowhere nothin' fuckup
nowhere nothin' fuckup
nowhere nothin' fuckup
nowhere nothin' nowhere nothin' now nowhere nothin' fuckup
nowhere nothin' fuckup
nowhere nothin' fuckup
nowhere nothin' nowhere nothin' now
in America
every puddle
gasoline rainbow
in America
every puddle
gasoline rainbow
in America
every puddle
gasoline rainbow
08 Lie for a Lie (03:15)
I can see a storm awaiting
Quietly anticipating
Don't deny, it no debating
A lie for a lie
A truth for a truth
Cruel, but everybody does it
I thought by now I'd rise above it
You complain but don't discuss it
A lie for a lie
A truth for a truth
I know the thoughts are on your brain
And even if they're not the same
Close enough so don't explain
A lie for a lie
A truth for a truth
Once in a while there's this girl I don't know in my dreams
She reminds me of alot of people
She's someone that I've never seen
And she's perfect
'Kay begin...
...some inaudible screaming
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