After the release of last year’s Untethered Moon, a tour by Built to Spill was highly anticipated. Touring again this year, they are joined for the east coast leg by freak folkers Hop Along and lo fi rockers Alex G, playing in Boston Tuesday night at the Paradise Rock Club. The bands proved their strength as a group, seamlessly moving from Alex G’s pained crooning and pedal board extravaganza to Hop Along vocalist’s Frances Quinlan’s effortless belts and, of course, Built to Spill.
This bill was especially interesting because each band is effectively led by one defining member on guitar and vocals. Although the bands vary within the “indie rock” umbrella, they are each uniquely defined by one member: Built to Spill’s Doug Martsch has been performing music written by himself and the band’s original drummer’s sister, Karena Youtz, for over 20 years. Frances Quinlan originally performed Hop Along as a solo act, describing it as “freak folk”, a genre defined by pastiche and avant-garde artistry; Alex Giannascoli, the man behind the Alex G moniker, has been a multi-instrumentalist since he was a child. For all these differences, each band on this bill somehow evokes feelings of nostalgia and melancholy, seemingly penning each song for each listener specifically.
Alex G came out of the gate strong to a large audience, especially for a chilly Tuesday night. Anyone familiar with Giannascoli’s extensive Bandcamp discography knows his scrubbed down, lo fi bedroom tunes that come off almost like a slightly better-produced Daniel Johnston b-side. Live, Giannascoli is almost vibrating with contained energy and dressed like a skater who escaped from a 90s skate video. The backing band fleshes out his sound to make it sound fuller, his voice almost phantasmagoric. The band played songs off everything from 2010’s spectacular release Race to last year’s DSU. With 13 albums and EPs, the band has a lot of material to choose from.
Similarly, Built to Spill played material spanning the entirety of their 24 year tenure as a band. Songs from There’s Nothing Wrong With Love (“The Plan”, 1994) and Keep It Like A Secret (“Big Dipper”, 1999) were enthusiastically received by the audience, even inducing sing-alongs. Normally that’s the kind of thing I’m averse to, but you really can’t blame people for loving a jam as good as “Big Dipper.” Also well-received, though perhaps less well-known, was a new song that I can only find online in shaky YouTube videos, dubiously titled “Strangers Inside.”
Sandwiched between these two stellar acts was Hop Along, who didn’t miss a beat keeping pace. The audience was admittedly rather rowdy, with one rather loud and likely drunk patron shouting incoherently in approval between songs. Quinlan quickly retorted that she could wait for him, proving that in addition to an incredibly powerful and raw voice, she’s got a cool wit too.
Not every band can manage to stay great for a long time–many bands fizzle out after their first or second release, if they even get that far. It speaks to the caliber of Built to Spill, particularly their unbelievable songwriting, that they are still releasing moving music after 24 years. Their melodies are often haunting, sounding at times like a ghostly Dinosaur Jr. record played at 45 rpm. The band has consistently released music that is fantastic in a variety of ways: the songwriting and musicianship, the lyrics and the snarling guitar solos–they all combine to create some damn fine music.
