Built to Spill's three previous indie releases (on C/Z, Up, and K) established a new pop standard, born from lo-fi experimentation, carefully crafted hooks, plaintive vocals, and brilliant, snaky guitar lines. For their major label debut, Perfect from Now On, frontman Doug Martsch, who leads a revolving cast of musicians, has created his most ambitious album to date. Gone are the compact, simple ditties that characterized the band's recent recordings, replaced by the kind of longer epics that typified its C/Z debut, Ultimate Alternative Wavers. The songs--some clocking in at eight or nine minutes in length--combine the laidback intensity of Pink Floyd and Neil Young with a Beatles-meet-Pavement modern, pop aesthetic. It's at once dreamy, spooky, and spine-tingling and if there's any truly unexplored territory in rock music, you can be sure Built to Spill are in the vanguard. --Adem Tepedelen
