BUILT TO SPILL – THERE IS NO ENEMY « New music, features, reviews, news and free mp3s

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(Deathbomb Arc)

Since Mika Miko split and No Age started touring the world, LA’s The Smell scene has been searching for a new, less garage-y sound, and its found it in ravesploitation.

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Album Review

Built To Spill

There Is No Enemy

[ATP]

6/10

A decade since their last great record, Built To Spill return with another album of rock-solid US indie-rock. And it’s better than the last couple – although that’s a bit like saying Obama’s better than the guy before. However, there’s some terrific stuff on ‘…Enemy’: the hell-raising Dinosaur Jr-isms of ‘Pat’ are full of life and verve, and ‘Oh Yeah’’s post-rockin’ soundscape is satisfyingly heavy, once it gets going. ‘Done’’s world-weary melancholy is also lovely – a distant cousin of Nick Cave’s ‘Nobody’s Baby Now’ – but suffers from being at least three minutes too long, a problem that plagues the entire album. At nearly an hour, with several meandering jams that offer neither intensity nor virtuosity, ‘…Enemy’ is over-performed and ultimately frustrating – all the ingredients are here for a cracking LP, but the aimless detours sour its rich flavour.

By Sam Walton