Built To Spill - Keep It Like A Secret

As a long-standing fan of this album, I don't quite get the Carry The Zero love. I like it a lot, but don't get why it's a fave.

I dunno, the chord progression just feels so ~transcendent~.

Tbh, though, I've always been surprised that people like the song as much as I do. I know, e.g., that the major-7th chords are doing it for me, but presumably not everyone else is being taken in for that reason.

voted Else, glad to see it's got a real contingency here; Now And Then might be my favorite KILAS-era song.

"what IS this? it's awesome!"

played "carry the zero" one day at at my previous job and two coworkers rushed up to me and asked "what is THIS, this is awesome"

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

*ponders*

If not for TB, it could have been any one of these for me.

i was afraid i'd be the only one to vote for "bad light"

but come on that ending

No track got zero votes, good showing.

Don't drag this out as much add I used to, but whenever I do, I wonder why I still spend money on other music.

Could say the same about Perfect from Now On.

Double OTM.

i see they are touring this summer, going to try and catch their show.

wah-wah, wah-wah, wah-wah, wah-wah
wah-wah, wah-wah, wah-wah, VRROOOOOOOM
DUN der na ner - SCREEEEEECH
DUN der na ner - SCREEEEEEEEEEE
dwee, dwah dweedle-ah dweeeeeee....dwah dweedle
dwee dwah dwee dwah dwee dwah dwah dweedle

how's life otm

missed this poll, obviously. one of my fave albums ever. would've voted else.

KILAS > PFNO but both are essentially perfect. for me, it's just that I prefer 5 minute songs to 8 minute songs.

and you're so occupied with what other persons are occupied with
and vice versa

a fraction

you guys haven't heard the new MIGUEL

I voted for Else. Probably my fave BtS song ever.

― alpine static, Monday, July 25, 2011 3:21 PM (3 years ago)

missed this poll, obviously. one of my fave albums ever. would've voted else.

― alpine static, Friday, June 6, 2014 9:04 AM (6 months ago)

lol

wah-wah, wah-wah, wah-wah, wah-wah
wah-wah, wah-wah, wah-wah, VRROOOOOOOM
DUN der na ner - SCREEEEEECH
DUN der na ner - SCREEEEEEEEEEE
dwee, dwah dweedle-ah dweeeeeee....dwah dweedle
dwee dwah dwee dwah dwee dwah dwah dweedle

otm

i was a huge modest mouse fan when i was a young teenager and i'm really bummed i didn't hear this album until i was 22. when i was younger i got Perfect from Now On and couldn't get into it.

anyway i was at someone's apartment in ohio and they were playing this record and i was completely blown away, immediately wanted to hear 'Center of the Universe' over and over, all that.

This album is great. Way back when a band I was in was playing Portland (I think), and we were talking to this girl about this album when she revealed she was the one on the cover!

She did not have wings, though.

ha that's awesome!

not sure whether to post this in here or "unusual details in wikipedia articles," because this isn't necessarily an unusual detail it's just weird:

Many of the songs on the album originated from a week's worth of band jam sessions in Boise. During these marathon jam sessions, which could last up to five hours at a time, Martsch used a foot pedal that triggered a tape machine to begin recording.

..... marathon?

Carry the zero was the one for me...way into those maj7 chords

their best record. :-)

Center of the Universe is just ridiculous. 4 killer hooks, each better than the last. The melodies on this album are like nursery rhymes, especially COTU.

all the hooks on this album are really short and simple and each song has like 4 or 5 or 6

calstars otm about carry the zero, the outro is spectacular

when the drums sync with the guitar lead it's : )

this one is their best, but only by a little bit over Perfect From Now On

two paragons of "indie rock," and one of the best back-to-back album pairs in recent memory

^

To this day just hearing the opening bit of velvet waltz sends me down an embarrassing spiral of nostalgic teary eyes

def one of my only favorite high school songs that I'm not worn out on yet

Time Trap has an amazing intro, great verses, but the chorus is weak and the outro is really a letdown. Feel like if he spent a couple more days on that, it would be the best song on here.

The results here are pretty spot on, no complaints.

i do love borken chairs, especially when the whistling comes in about halfway through the jam--you always expect it to come back, but alas, it never does

Aw man, I was about to come on here to say that I love the chorus of time trap! Agreed on the outro through - it feels like one of the few unpolished parts on the whole album. All is forgotten and forgiven when it quickly transitions into Else, though.

xpost

But you could never know that... (Good)
In a time trap... (Okay)
In a tiiiime trap. <-- I don't like this whiny part, he could say and do more with the set up. Seems like Doug just gave up on it.

the chorus of time trap is the best hook! another hook that sounds like a nursery rhyme

the intro to time trap is the best part, the rest of the song doesn't hold up as well

yeah it's like a cut n shunt. guitar parts expertly layer on top of one another and then suddenly woah where'd it all go?

i'm not sure how desirable nursery rhyme hooks are unless you think 'nan nanny boo boo' is the peak of songwriting. but i will have to refrain from further comment as i haven't loaded my music onto my new phone and this & perfect are their only two albums not on spotify.

Good news - they're on Spotify! I listened to them last night.

i was a huge modest mouse fan when i was a young teenager and i'm really bummed i didn't hear this album until i was 22.

i had a similar experience with this record, also trail of dead/sonic youth. is there a thread for "bands who directly influenced the bands you love that you didn't hear until much later?"

I can think of very few albums that feature so many fleeting but huge hooks and anthemic bits I love so much, let alone in service of great songs. An indie-rock (as genre) apex.

Good news - they're on Spotify! I listened to them last night.

not in my locale!

the nursery rhyme thing reminds me of Nevermind. the hooks are all ear candy. they're simple and supercharged.

I'm glad this thread popped to life again, because it flashed me back to the last time I saw the band, September 2001. They played several songs from "Perfect from Now On," but a whopping *one* from "Keep It Like a Secret," yet found space to play some Halo Benders and a Caustic Resin track, plus three epic classic rock covers: Cheap Trick's "Dream Police," George Harrison's "What is Life" (he died the next month or so, iirc) and yes, "Freebird" - all in their elaborate entirety.

Ancient Melodies Of the Future destroyed this band. All momentum vanished.

The 'plays perfect from now on in its entirety' show I saw several years ago hung together wonderfully

Ancient Melodies Of the Future destroyed this band. All momentum vanished.

I disagree. That album had a number of highlights and There Is No Enemy was a very good album - they've just never quite reached their mid-period peak again.

I haven't listened to ancient melodies in a very long time but it was one of most anticipated albums and I remember being very disappointed. I thought that the even the worst songs of perfect and secret were better then the best songs off of ancient melodies. But it's been a long time.