SOUNDTRACK: BUILT TO SPILL CAUSTIC RESIN (1995).
This is one of those CDs that I used to see all the time back when I shopped at Tower Records in Boston. Either they had a lot of copies of it or it was always at the front, or something. But I never forgot the title of this EP, which I only purchased a few years ago.
The title is funny because it is indeed a merging of Built to Spill and Caustic Resin. But it’s not a split single with the two bands playing. Rather, it is Doug Martsch from Built to Spill playing with the three guys from Caustic Resin James Dillion on drums, Tom Romich on bass and Brett Netson on guitar and vocals on “Shit Brown Eyes.” (Remember how Doug was planning to have different musicians on each album?).
The EP has four songs totaling about 25 minutes.
“When Not Being Stupid Is Not Enough” is over 9 minutes long. It opens with a lot of instrumental stuff until about 3 and half minutes when the title lyrics come in as does the organ. By 5 and half minutes the song doubles in speed and builds with some great soloing.
“One Thing” has loud and screamed vocals from Martsch (probably the only BtS song like that). There’s a lot of wild psychedelic keyboard work in the middle of the song which alternates with a lengthy guitar solo. They pack a lot of jamming into five minutes.
“Shit Brown Eyes” was written by Caustic Resin. It’s a fairly conventional sounding song. There’s lots of guitar work and dual vocals. It’s a little chaotic, but there’s more beautiful soloing toward the end.
The final song is a cover of Kicking Giant’s “She’s Real.” The song is also fairly conventional (I don’t know the original) but they stretch it out to 8 minutes. It has a slow and mellow opening. There’s a lengthy fairly quiet guitar soloing section and then the end has a rocking section repeating “be my, be my baby” (but not a cover of the original).
This is an interesting EP, and might serve as an introduction to Caustic Resin (who I don’t really know) more that Built to Spill. It’s certainly not their best album, but “When Not Being Stupid Is Not Enough” is really fantastic.
[READ: July 20, 2015] Kick-Ass
I really enjoyed the movie of Kick-Ass. I knew it was from a comic book but I’d never seen the book before. And then I walked right past it in the library and had to check it out. This book collects issues 1-8 of the first series.
The movie is changed in different ways (made more “upbeat” mostly) but the story line is pretty consistent. Dave Lizewski is a fairly normal kid. He’s not a jock, but he’s not picked on either. He likes comic books but isn’t a major geek. He crushes on a hot girl and she won’t give him the time of day–pretty standard fare. But he wants something more. And he wonders why no one has ever tried to become a super hero for real. Obviously there’s no magic or superpowers involved, just a costumed avenger helping people? Why not?
So he decides to do it. He puts on a scuba suit an and a mask and heads out. Now, unlike every superhero, he has no major back story. His mother is dead, but from an aneurysm, so there’s no revenge. And his dad is pretty cool, so there’s no struggle there. He just wants some excitement. And he finds it. He runs into some kids spray painting on a wall. He has no fighting skills, and he gets the crap beat out of him. And as he flees, he is hit by a car. He winds up in the hospital, barely alive. (more…)
Read Full Post »
I have seen Built to Spill five times and have enjoyed every show. This tour promotes the 30th anniversary of the album There’s Nothing Wrong with Love. I thought I knew this album pretty well, but it turns out that I really started getting into them with the album AFTER this one.
I Just Read About That... 