by Travis Shosa (@counterzine)
Founded in 1992, Doug Martsch’s Built to Spill has been a stalwart pillar of indie rock greatness for three decades: no mean feat. Sure, not all Built to Spill records are created equal: the ’94 to ’99 run of There’s Nothing Wrong With Love, Perfect From Now On, and Keep It Like a Secret remains near untouchable not only within the band’s canon but that of the broader rock music sphere. Still, they’ve never released a bad album, and despite Martsch’s tendency to center the Built to Spill sound around his virtuosic guitar melodies and philosophical lyrics, the band has yet to grapple with the issue of staleness. This trend holds on When the Wind Forgets Your Name, the band’s tenth studio album and first set of original material since 2015’s Untethered Moon.
Martsch’s ability to keep things fresh could be due to Built to Spill’s semi-regular lineup switches. Untethered Moon and the following Daniel Johnston covers album saw drummer Steve Gere and bassist Jason Albertini replace Scott Plouf and Brett Nelson respectively, yet When the Wind Forgets Your Name already sees Oruã’s Le Almeida and João Casaes tag in to inform a new outlook. Martsch is still the ringleader, but the involvement of the Brazilian psych jazz duo slightly shifts the perspective. This is the trippiest offering from the band since Perfect From Now On.
The guitar fuzz on the opener and lead single “Gonna Lose” is packed tightly and hovers at a frequency that induces a relaxing hallucinogenic dissociation, similar to the effect of several hits of Dramamine. It’s almost shoegaze: Martsch’s vocals are relatively quiet in the mix, peering through the tiny cracks in the wall of noise constructed by the main riff. But its form is too aggressive for the label to be truly applicable: Martsch may not be a loud singer, but his shouted whines certainly aren’t shy on “Gonna Lose.” Though the tone itself is oddly dreamy, Martsch’s playing, along with that of his new rhythm section, is forceful. It’s a classic heavy metal track in the vein of Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath, processed through a film of harsh yet subtle psychedelia.
“Fool’s Gold” and “Understood” are closer to emulating the magic discovered on Perfect From Now On. Slower and soaked in reverb: these tracks may not be as sprawling nor feature stacks upon stacks of overdubs, but their drifting introspections pair well with the 1997 masterpiece. “It was only a dream / But it still felt good / To spend a little time / Thinking something mattered / And I want to tell you something / I got nothing to say,” Martsch contemplates on “Fool’s Gold,” which engages with the concept of positive nihilism. Understanding that the notion of objective meaning is the titular fool’s gold, he is mournful but not forlorn: he resolves to keep trying to find his meaning.
“Understood” ponders how people interface with the world and how much of it is active versus passive or sensory versus innate. It also wrestles with a horror often understated: the impossible terror of deep understanding. “The blind can see and the deaf can hear / Finding out what is my greatest fear,” he sings, having no desire to peel back every layer that makes up life, preferring instead to be “unrefined.”
Sandwiched between these and the R.E.M.-inspired “Spiderweb” and the Dinosaur Jr.-influenced “Never Alright” are When the Wind Forgets Your Name’s most exploratory pieces. “Elements” is a gorgeous full embrace of psychedelic folk rock, soft and swirling until the sounds of chirping crickets and ocean waves lead it out. “Rocksteady,” which somewhat ironically has Martsch claim, “I don’t know how to be anyone else,” sees the band slip snug into a dub glove (there’s a tongue-twister). For those who appreciate Built to Spill as the Neil Young with Crazy Horse of indie rock, Martsch still has you covered with the country-fried jams of “Alright” and the obligatory eight-plus minute epic “Comes a Day.”
When speaking with Inlander, Martsch strangely didn’t seem that excited about When the Wind Forgets Your Name. He mentions Alex Graham’s cover art as his favorite thing about the album and says he “didn’t feel a ton of inspiration, but did the work” as he operated under isolation during COVID. These statements are difficult to reconcile when he sounds more creatively motivated here than perhaps any album since 2006’s You In Reverse. When the Wind Forgets Your Name might not reach the nigh insurmountable heights of his best work. However, it’s still a strong effort that manages to cater to longtime fans while finding opportunities to explore new avenues. The process of making it might not have been enjoyable, but hopefully, in a few years, Martsch will be able to take pride in a record that is worth being proud of.