Untethered Moon by Built to Spill

I love this record.

Mostly, I was relieved that the boys from Boise are BACK. Built to Spill released a couple epochal records, for me at least, long, long ago; that they should drop such a sweet record last year, in spite of everything, is a happening to be celebrated.

This record resounds with confidence, wit and belief. “Rock and Roll will be here forever” indeed.

The record opens with an ‘Intro to Built to Spill:' references to Idaho are made, which is perfectly reasonable. “All Our Songs” serves as a succinct summary of the Doug Martsch indie rock and rolliverse as one could think of. Yeah, Untethered Moon is good.

“Living Zoo” is a gorgeous, thick rifftopian groove; Built to Spill has always been, after all, a playground for those that love a psychedelic flavor with an agreeable indie rock swing. Some have written of a Northwest Sound; I'm not sure about that myself, being from the Great Lakes, what that actually could or should mean. But I do know that Built to Spill have a released another album that is worth exploring.

“Never Be the Same” is a happy, casual frolic overdubbed with a wry sentimentality, Exhibit A for that Northwest Sound. Directly following comes the trip-riffic “C.R.E.B;” it's the setup, filled with minor chords, consternation, gloom, demi-reggae, and an inevitable spooky finality. A tonic comes in the soaring majors of “Another Day,” a fine payoff for a listener happy to encounter a select pirouette and conscious transition; a pairing.  And yet, I think “C.R.E.B.” may be one of my favorite rock and roll songs released in 2015.

Untethered Moon closes with an experimental outro called “When I'm Blind” that poses as a straight-ahead punk rock swing that trots along until veering into a sprawling messy brawl in whose silly depths we are refreshed, renewed, and reaffirmed: keep rocking because you will rock better.

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