by Conor Lochrie (@conornoconnor)
In 2017, Built to Spill received the honor of being asked to backup the great Daniel Johnston on tour. During rehearsals, leader Doug Martsch decided to record their interpretations of Johnston’s songs but without the intention of releasing them, a remembrance of the experience for friends and family to enjoy. Two years later, music was torn apart by the sudden loss of Johnston, one of the most idiosyncratic performers and writers of the last fifty years. When the band went into the studio recently to work on new music, Martsch couldn’t help but return to the Johnston material.
Built to Spill have been crafting excellent indie rock records since 1992. It’s no surprise, then, to see them soften the edges of Johnston’s songs with powerful guitar rhythm. With Martsch being the only permanent member of the band, the iteration of Built to Spill that recorded …Plays The Songs of Daniel Johnston was a trio - Martsch with bassist Jason Albertini and drummer Steve Gere, who both subsequently departed. Martsch himself is a long-time admirer of Johnston: he intermittently listened to his releases throughout the 1980s before falling in love with Johnston on his 1990 album 1990; Built to Spill then covered one of his songs on their own 1996 compilation album The Normal Years. This covers album is essentially a cleanup of Johnston’s ramshackle workings, an imagining of how the outsider artist may have sounded if he hadn’t been plagued by such weighty personal issues and a lack of quality recording utensils. There is no attempt to match the wild spirit of Johnston - they could not - instead offering a fair homage to the icon.
Detractors of Johnston often cited the ramshackle state of his recordings - and there were certainly many songs of diminished quality - but that made the grave mistake of overlooking the true beauty of his work: hidden beneath the fuzz and the chaos on those dubbed cassettes were some the purest melodies and most heart-aching lyrics in American music history. It was raw and primal but brushed with a tender touch that ensures Johnston will remain an idol to many musicians. At first listen, therefore, the music of the great outsider artist sounding so clean and rehearsed feels untoward, it also being odd to hear Martsch - who has a distinctive rock voice - singing the words of the unique Johnston, but there is enough to sustain involvement.
The opening song sounds so much like a cliched cover band’s work as to be an intentional act by Martsch: to listen to their jaunty and jangling version of Johnston’s “Bloody Rainbow” is to instantly picture oneself on the dancefloor at a high school prom or a wedding reception, as Martsch does his best Buddy Holly impression with some “oohs” and “uh-ohs”. The following song “Tell Me Now” continues in this vein and it’s clear that Martsch was reluctant to be too intricate with changing Johnston’s songs. “Good Morning You” is a short but vibrant burst of indie pop, likewise “Queenie The Dog” with its sweetly strumming guitars. The wonderful and plaintive lyrics of “Life In Vain” sound disorientating contained in Built to Spill’s upbeat mode (“It’s so tough just to be alive/When I feel like the living dead”). The hiss and fuzz of “Fake Records Of Rock And Roll” may be the best of the covers, Martsch relenting from the start of the album’s passive style and letting loose.
What’s evident throughout is the warmth with which the band have covered these songs. Martsch was open about the experience of working alongside Johnston, calling it good but weird, with difficulties finding practice time but it’s clear that they still hold the musician in high regard with this record (It should also be noted that Martsch pledged his support to the Hi, How Are You Project, a mental health organisation inspired by Johnston’s legacy).
It’s not as eclectic as the excellent 2004 compilation The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered which held fascinating and bold reworkings of his songs by the likes of Tom Waits, Bright Eyes, and Calvin Johnson; it won’t be the last Johnston cover album either, such is his lasting imprint on music. What Built to Spill’s offering is, though, is a pleasing and respectful tribute to an artist Martsch both admired from near and afar.