Built to Spill's new record, There is No Enemy, comes out today, and there isn't much to say about it: It's an uneven record with some absolutely essential songs ("Planting Seeds," "Good Ol' Boredom," "Hindsight") padded with some unusually brooding, disappointing epics. It should cement the conventional wisdom that, while still worthwhile, this decade Built to Spill's studio output has squandered much of amazing momentum they gained in the '90s.
That's more or less true, but that C.W. breeds one misconception that too many revisionist critics have adopted in recent years: That Built to Spill's 2001 album Ancient Melodies of the Future was the root of this decline, a nadir that nearly destroyed the band. Almost every review of Built to Spill's 2006 album, You in Reverse, and many reviews of There is No Enemy, take passing (and sometimes not so passing) shots at Ancient Melodies of the Future.
It's become the black sheep of Built to Spill's discography, but Ancient Melodies of the Future to me seems to be the last great Built to Spill record, a worth finale in their quadrology of Phil Ek-produced albums. It's not as transcendent as its predecessor, Keep it Like a Secretfew albums arebut it's nearly as charming, containing some of the band's tightest pop songs. "Strange" and "Fly Around Me Pretty Little Miss" are two of the zippiest, wittiest tunes the group's ever recorded; rockers "Trimmed and Burning" and "Dont' Try" pack a fierce bite into a concise little package, and "Alarmed" among their most poignant sad songs. Collectively, they're a perfect meal, with the right balance of sweet, savory, salty and bitter.
For those who want to give Ancient Melodies of the Future a second chance; Lala.com makes it easy for you. You can stream the album at that site.
