Continuing to tour behind the 30th anniversary of their classic 1994 album There’s Nothing Wrong with Love, Boise, Idaho, natives Built to Spill will be playing Bogart’s in late August. The album will be performed in its entirety with the band accompanied by cellist John McMahon, who performed on classic songs like “Car” and “Stab.”
While perhaps slightly overshadowed by their follow-up record, 1997’s Perfect from Now On, There’s Nothing Wrong with Love contains plenty of wry, sweetly melancholic songs with Doug Martsch’s trademark plaintive vocals and unadorned Stratocaster guitar. Most songs are stripped down to the bare essentials of guitar, bass and drums, with simple melodies reminiscent of ‘70s power pop. The chords to “Fling” sound like something Supertramp’s Roger Hodgson might have stumbled upon while strumming his 12-string.
There’s Nothing Wrong with Love is a record primarily concerned with adolescence and how strange it feels to suddenly find yourself distanced from it, stepping unsteadily into adulthood. It’s worth noting that Martsch became a first-time father during the recording of the album. So, it’s no wonder that so many of his lyrics look back to moments when you’re suddenly aware of your place in the world, how big it is, how little you are and where it is you fit in. “Cleo,” about Martsch’s son Benjamin, encapsulates what Built to Spill does so well: the first lines are the somewhat goofy “wiggly days, wiggly nights,” but the sincerity in which they’re sung sucks you in, and the slow, major seventh to minor chord progression is the perfect mix of light and dark.
Whether singing about seeing the constellations in a string of stars, rebelling against stepparents or simply marveling at the mind’s cognitive capabilities (“Ain’t it strange that I can dream?”), Martsch perfectly captures what it’s like to grow up — the earnest pleas to “make it real,” of feeling like an outsider, pushing the world away and wondering if it will “break (us) back.” You come away from a Built to Spill record feeling a little sad, a little silly, but most importantly, with a great indie pop song humming in your head. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Built to Spill performs at Bogart’s on Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. Info: bogarts.com.
This story is featured in CityBeat’s Aug. 21 print edition.
This article appears in Aug 7-20, 2024.