Trembling Blue Stars
Alive to Every Smile
HHH 1/2
(of 5)
Sub Pop Records
Fans of Trembling Blue Stars' brand of breathy, dreamy pop will likely love the band's latest offering, Alive to Every Smile. Reminiscent of Belle and Sebastian, and at times New Order and the Cure, the songs on their fourth album fail to break new ground, but instead perfect the band's usual formula of Robert Wratten's lyrics of unrequited love backed by pretty, atmospheric melodies.
The opening track, "Under Lock and Key," is as hard rocking as TBS gets, and the result is one of the strongest tracks on the album. Wratten sings, "You've got to stop fucking her up / You've got to grow up / You've got to stop making her cry — she thinks you want to and you know she's right."
Other standout tracks include "Haunted Days," with beautiful female backing vocals and a synth-pop melody that distinguishes this song from the rest. The album's single, "The Ghost of an Unkissed Kiss" is probably the catchiest song, with a straightforward pop hook and Wratten singing "Dry eyes — it was never going to end with dry eyes."
"St. Paul's Cathedral at Night" is also remarkable for its wistful, nostalgic lyrics: "Talking in an empty cinema / walking back through Parliament Square. / St. James's Park at Christmas-time…/ I didn't want there to come an end to our time."
Despite these strong tracks, several songs on the album are throwaways. These songs would fall under the category of "Heard one TBS song, heard 'em all." "With Every Story" tops this list, with a long, boring intro and nothing of substance to follow up the intro.
"Here All Day" and "Maybe After All" also fail to make an impression — they're a little too atmospheric and don't provide any real emotional resonance. These tracks are quickly forgotten and are indistinguishable from one another.
Overall, Alive to Every Smile is a mixed collection of standard Trembling Blue Stars work. If you don't mind skipping some tracks, Alive is a solid offering of catchy, lovely pop songs to cry into your beer to.
—Melissa Bradsher
At face value, Built to Spill front man Doug Martsch is an understated man. He spends his time before shows walking amongst the crowd, usually incognito, scoping out the opening acts, having a drink or just talking with fans.
You'll hear descriptions of Doug ranging from an "old hippie" to "somebody's dad." Lurking beneath the quiet, personable demeanor, however, is one of the greatest guitar players of the last generation.
Martsch prefers to let his Stratocaster do the talking as he winds and dances his fingers across the strings. To say he plays great rock music is an understatement. He projects his deepest thoughts, emotions and intentions through his guitar.
While he does sing, his awe-inspiring guitar work is the true beauty of the act.
Martsch and Built to Spill have been quietly dominating the indie-rock multitudes, but to see them shine, you have to see them live.
Opening with a cover of the classic Clash song "Police and Thieves," Tuesday's show at Nita's Hideaway started off with an energetic pace, with a brief guitar solo as an intro for what would come. Forgetting the new record (Ancient Melodies of the Future), for the most part, Built to Spill launched into the back catalogue, including several covers of band members' favorite songs.
"Reasons," off of Nothing Wrong with Love, was very impressive, with signature solo work by Martsch in the middle to stretch it out and overwhelm the audience.
The updated rendition of "Joyride" was interesting to hear live; it felt like the song had matured from its original incarnation on The Normal Years. The raw, rough edges were cleaned up and the song rolled into the crowd like it was meant to be.
"Car" was in top form and totally breathtaking. Martsch's guitar work finished off the song magnificently. Watching the man work a guitar and draw so much out of it is humbling. While there are a number of great guitarists that come to mind, in a pool so saturated with talent, for Martsch to shine like he does is even more reason to forget about "face-value."
— Jeremy Hughes
