- Keep It Like a Secret · 1999
- Keep It Like a Secret · 1999
- There's Nothing Wrong with Love · 1994
- Keep It Like a Secret · 1999
- There's Nothing Wrong with Love · 1994
- You In Reverse · 2006
- Perfect from Now On · 1997
- Keep It Like a Secret · 1999
- Keep It Like a Secret · 1999
- Keep It Like a Secret · 1999
- Keep It Like a Secret · 1999
- Perfect from Now On · 1997
- There's Nothing Wrong with Love · 1994
Essential Albums
- Once he signed Built to Spill to a major label, frontman Doug Martsch decided to take advantage of the larger budget and make the nearest thing to a pop album that he could. In other words, it still features the intricate musicianship we expect, but the sublimely fractured indie songs are punchier and the sound is seriously hi-fi. Martsch’s extended guitar pieces still sneak their way in (“Time Trap,” “Broken Chairs”), but the melodies of “Center of the Universe,” “You Were Right,” and “Else” are cheery compared to their lyrics.
- When Doug Martsch and his rotating crew of friends started recording their 1997 major-label debut, even their most devoted fans couldn’t have been prepared for this. Given a bigger budget and a bigger stage, Built to Spill responded with bigger songs than their usual lo-fi basement-bops, with most songs clocking in at over six twist-filled minutes, and turned Martsch into a guitar hero in the process. Truly epic back when that word still meant something, songs like “Velvet Waltz” and “Kicked It in the Sun” gesture at classic-rock grandeur while creating something special and enduring in its own right.
Music Videos
- 2022
- 2022
- 2022
- 2018
- 1994
Artist Playlists
- Perfect from now on.
- They brought the epic guitar solo back to indie rock.
- The next generation of moody indie rock guitar slingers.
- Sweeping Americana, guitar freak-outs, lo-fi ditties, and more.
Live Albums
Compilations
About Built to Spill
Led by guitarist and songwriter Doug Martsch, Built to Spill bring together the flinty riffs and abstract lyrics of indie rock with guitar heroics worthy of packed arenas. Formed in 1992 in Boise, ID, by Martsch (formerly of indie-proggers Treepeople), Built to Spill released their first album, Ultimate Alternative Wavers, a year later. After a few more releases and lineup rotations, as well as a stint on Lollapalooza 1995, the band signed to Warner Bros.; their first release under that deal, 1997’s sprawling, introspective Perfect from Now On, was a triumph, a best-case scenario of major-label money bolstering grand artistic intentions. Its 1999 follow-up, Keep It Like a Secret, applied Built to Spill’s formula to pop gems like the stirring “The Plan.” From there, Martsch and an ever-shifting cast of musicians released ambitious albums like 2001’s cavernous Ancient Melodies of the Future and 2015’s pensive Untethered Moon and toured frequently. In 2021 Built to Spill—now the trio of Martsch, bassist Melanie Radford, and drummer Teresa Esguerra—signed to Sub Pop, with their first release for the storied indie, When the Wind Forgets Your Name, coming out the following September.
- ORIGIN
- Boise, ID, United States
- FORMED
- 1992
- GENRE
- Alternative