Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy

 

Built to Spill are an endangered species. Even though 1997’s Perfect from Now On and their powerful influence on America's "Northwest sound" (currently the soundtrack of choice for sexually repressed vampires) will forever cement their place in the college rock lexicon, a ten-year succession of middling-to-good albums has seen them move further down the food chain as their beneficiaries in Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse enjoy remarkable mainstream success. This consistent lack of development is apparent on There Is No Enemy, and – like much of their noughties output – there aren't enough decent songs here to compensate. Though Hindsight and Good Ol' Boredom are two left-of-the-dial treats, it's the second side that lets the whole down. It's heaving with conventional, anaemic melodies and alt. rock guitar structures that not only lack the spark they once had; they are outright bettered by their chart-topping brethren. Built to Spill are fading away, not burning out. [Ian Crichton]