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Apr 21, 2015Untethered Moon, the band’s first album in six years, wastes no time in reaffirming what Built To Spill does.
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Apr 14, 2015Though it’s Built to Spill’s first album since 2009’s There Is No Enemy and it features a new lineup, Untethered Moon sits right at the band’s musical sweet spot: tight webs of guitar, knotty at places and dangling in the breeze elsewhere. But that reduction to the physical belies the melancholic streak in Martsch’s evocative phrases.
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Dec 10, 2015Whether it's rock songs chock-full of reverb, haze or distortion, at the end of the day Untethered Moon is another well-assembled, guitar-driven gem that will continue to keep Built To Spill as fresh and alive as ever.
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Jul 13, 2015Untethered Moon may lack the shiny object-appeal of the band’s debut, or the epic brilliance of their major label debut, Perfect From Now On. But it showcases Martsch’s strengths and suggests an artist who, despite his qualms about universes micro and macro, has reached a comforting détente with who he is.
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Apr 17, 2015Untethered Moon is arguably the most enjoyable Built To Spill album since 1999's pivotal Keep It Like A Secret.
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Apr 14, 2015Untethered Moon is almost undeniably a classic slice of BTS. [No. 119, p.51]
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Apr 21, 2015Perhaps the only real drawback of the LP is that it never quite reaches the emotional resonance that we’ve seen from Built to Spill in the past. But it wisely steers clear of overly reflective ballads.
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Apr 21, 2015If you’ve loved Built to Spill’s music your whole life, Untethered Moon will have this same comforting, classic feel.
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Jun 4, 2015There’s a darkness that runs through this album, but it’s almost always offset by something positive.
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May 27, 2015If There is No Enemy was a pretty concise record of dreamy guitar pop, then Untethered Moon sees the band get back to a gnarlier sound, with roughhewn, grungy production and two songs that yawn far over the six-minute mark, erupting into hackingly primitive Crazy Horse-style jams.
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Apr 28, 2015The album's consistency is a testament to Martsch's perfectionism (he scrapped a whole album in 2012)--and for that, we salute him.
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Apr 22, 2015Untethered Moon is truly the work of a veteran musician who continues to tweak the same kind of song with the adventurousness of a curious young man.
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Apr 22, 2015On Untethered Moon, the crew sounds as taught and lean as ever.
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Apr 21, 2015Untethered Moon ends up being a set of new songs that remind you of those old Built to Spill songs you liked, ones that sound like they’ve been here forever.
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Apr 20, 2015Untethered Moon is the usual strong Built to Spill effort.
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Apr 16, 2015There is no diminishing quality, no altered voices, no experiments with structure or delivery. [Apr-May 2015, p.80]
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Alternative PressApr 14, 2015No surprises really to be found here, but that's not what you're here for: You stick with the band for their assured songwriting and richly rendered freakouts. [May 2015, p.96]
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MojoJul 6, 2015Untethered Moon leaves no doubt these guys are on fine form again. [Aug 2015, p.95]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 17 out of 19
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Mixed: 1 out of 19
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Negative: 1 out of 19
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Apr 23, 2015
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Jun 1, 2015