Review: Built to Spill – Built to Spill Plays the Songs of Daniel Johnston

What’s up music heads! Sorry for the one-day delay. Here is the review:

Built to Spill is an indie rock band spearheaded by guitarist and lead vocalist Doug Martsch. The group is known for their sophisticated and lengthy song structures that are focused on the lead guitar playing. Built to Spill Plays the Songs of Daniel Johnston is a special 11-track album that is essentially demo tapes that were supposed to be made for friends of the band only. These tracks were made during the time Built to Spill backed Daniel Johnston (famous Texan singer-songwriter that passed away recently) at concerts. The songs are supposed to be representations of the band’s sound during their time learning from Johnston. Additionally, all the tracks are covers of Johnston’s songs that were primarily in obscure cassette forms when Martsch was beginning to listen to Johnston’s music. The album does a great job applying Built to Spill’s musical aesthetic to Daniel Johnston’s legendary songwriting. Here is my track-by-track breakdown:

- Bloody Rainbow – A great chorus but is more emotionally dull than Johnston’s original. The song talks about love in the beginning and death at the end. Catchy and emotional.

- Tell Me Now – This song is such a pure representation of being insecure about a girl that he likes and her true intentions toward the singer. The lyrics are very childlike and cute: “Tell me now, do you really love me?” / “I wanna know, dear, the way that you feel” / “What if your kiss could be a lie?”

- Honey I Sure Miss You – Johnston reminisces about a loved one in an extremely sweet way. There is nothing more important than this girl. He just misses her so much.

- Good Morning You – Guitar riffs are great during the chorus when the vocals become louder. The lyrics are extremely jolly.

- Heart, Mind and Soul – Tropical guitars backing introspective lyricism about how necessary the girl is to the singer. The singer also sings about regretful actions, and how it made him feel. Also, the track contains one of the best vocal melodies on this album.

- Life in Vain – The singing is so happy while the lyrics are so sad. They are about how tough it is merely to stay alive, likely referring to Johnston’s mental illness affecting his life.

- Mountain Top – Johnston is singing about looking back at himself as a child, and how he thought the only purpose in life was his love for a girl. However, he reveals that he is still heavily hurt because of losing her. The song ends with a lead guitar outro.

- Queenie The Dog – This song is so adorable. Johnston loves his dog so much, thinking about the good times he spent with her. The lyrics make me feel so empathetic towards Johnston and how his brain functioned when he was alive. The song becomes so dark as Johnston writes that love is an illusion and that he wished the money he now had could have saved his dog.

- Impossible Love – This song is more of the similar instrumental seen throughout the album. It is backing more lighthearted singing about not believing his love experience because it was too good.

- Fake Records of Rock & Roll – A standout track because of the classic rock and roll vibe. Very lo-fi with low-volume, airy vocal delivery. I enjoy the out-of-control guitar playing in between verses and especially, in the outro.

- Fish – Johnston describes himself as a fish who got caught in the net of his love. The song continues describing his first experience with trying to get his crush’s attention. There is also some vague but intriguing lyricism such as “shed a tear like blood on the porch” and “I guess my art didn’t help very much.” I believe this is a great ending track that Built to Spill chose, singing about how the couple met after hearing so much about her in the rest of the record.

Throughout the record, Built to Spill alters Daniel Johnston’s melodies into more coherent hooks and songs that are album ready. Johnston is known for his innocent love lyrics as he struggled through manic depression and schizophrenia, causing the “child living in a man’s body” effect on his personality. The stainless lyrics are all present in the renditions, but the emotion and rawness of Johnston’s delivery are stripped from these covers. The record is essentially a curation of well-executed song covers of a legendary singer/songwriter by an experienced indie band. They did a great job creating a narrative, too, as the love lyricism progressed throughout the album, basically telling Johnston’s story about his first and only love. Rest in peace Daniel Johnston.

Favorite Songs: Bloody Rainbow/Heart, Mind, and Soul

Least Favorites: Impossible Love

Pretty Good Album: 7.5