Top 10 of 2006. #03. Built To Spill - You In Reverse
Built To Spill - You In Reverse
Warner Bros (US)/Spunk (AU)

"Goin' Against Your Mind"
(8:42, 12.84mb)
Track 1.

"Liar"
(5:11, 7.87mb)
Track 3.

"Goin' Against Your Mind", the first track on You In Reverse, is utterly perfectly structured for a song that's almost nine minutes long, with only a couple of verses and a perfunctory chorus. Doug Martsch is a master of dynamics and structure. He knows exactly how to build up a song and then tear it apart again. Part of the secret of "Goin' Against Your Mind" is that Built To Spill's rhythm section have never sounded so alive as they do on You In Reverse - the song comes screaming out of the starting gates, and doesn't let up, building and building for half the song. The other half of the secret of that song - and by extension, Doug Martsch's talent, in general - is that every section of "Goin' Against Your Mind" has a hook to it. You In Reverse, however, isn't just "Goin' Against Your Mind and a bunch of filler" - it's strong and consistent the whole way through.

In particular, "Liar" is the equal of any of the straight pop songs Martsch has written (see "Twin Falls" or "The Plan"). Melancholy in tone, with an aura of reassurance, Martsch sings "no, I wouldn't be a liar, if I told you that", and there's a funny bittersweetness to the phrase, as if he's not quite telling the truth, but doing it for a good reason.

It's wonderful to see a band like Built To Spill firing at all cylinders again.