Built To Spill – 'There Is No Enemy' review
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 hellraising 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 overperformed and ultimately frustrating. All the ingredients are here for a cracking album, but the aimless detours sour its rich flavour.
6/10
