Built to Spill - Perfect From Now On

_{1997 | Indie Rock}

With Perfect From Now On, Built to Spill shattered almost every indie rock songwriting stereotype. Instead of the usual 3 minute verse-chorus formula that was so overdone in the 90s, they doubled, and on some songs even tripled that length. The strung out songwriting allows for a great amount of variety on how each song progresses, to the point where some have up to almost 7 different unique sections; Out of Site specifically gives the listener whiplash with how often the tempo changes and the music segues into different ideas. Every song shares this philosophy to an extent. Some songs are more simple than others with less tempo changes and less instrumental transitions, but there isn't a single stereotypical "verse-chorus-verse-chorus" track in sight. Every song has a fresh take on indie rock that, at least out of what I've heard, has never been done before, or at least never been done to the success that is has here.

The instrumentation is also unbelievable, guitars are just stacked on top of each other until it takes multiple listens to hear every small texture that each song has to offer. It's not the same type of layering as something like Loveless though, instead each track has multiple different textures and accents rather than repeating layers of sound swirling together. Examples include stuff like a small guitar line in the left channel, or a synth that matches the guitar melody that you don't catch at first - you only hear how thick the guitar tone sounds. These ideas seem mundane on paper, but paired with the multitude of incredible ideas that each song offers, they add up. This album is filled with riffs and melodies that any other band would've milked to death, but not Built to Spill. These ideas show up once on a track, and before you know it the song progresses into something entirely different, and the previous line is never repeated again. I think this is the main reason why the album is so addicting to listen to - with each song, instead of hearing one catchy riff or melody multiple times, you hear multiple catchy riffs and melodies only once. Every time I listen to the album in full a different riff or melody gets stuck in my head after I'm done. They have such a knack for great songwriting it's insane.

This album means a lot to me, genuinely. I have a very strong emotional connection to it at this point and I don't see myself ever not loving it. It's one of the few pieces of music that I wholeheartedly feel has changed the way I conduct myself on a daily basis, and I owe a lot to it - that alone makes it truly special.