With the release of “Gonna Lose”, the first single from their forthcoming record for Sub Pop, When the Wind Forgets Your Name, Built to Spill returned to the raucous, catchy, and psych-inflected guitar theatrics of their earlier albums. The melody was stretched wide open, a return to the keenly detailed rhythmic impulses prominently found on 1997’s Perfect from Now On and 1999’s Keep It Like a Secret. And today, the band has shared another glimpse into this world with “Understood”, a jangly bit of fuzzed-out rock that finds them trying to make sense of the world around them.
There’s something ever so slightly slightly measured about this song, though it never feels as though it’s pulling its punches. The guitars are still as starry-eyed and expressive as always, but also tattered and craggy at the edges. It makes me think of what would have happened if The Byrds and Built to Spill ever crossed paths in the studio. They’re able to straddle the line between lo-fi cacophony and melodic introspection better than almost any other band, and “Understood” makes a case that they’ll continue to be guardians for this kind of DIY anthemic squall for many more years to come.
Listen to “Understood” below.
When the Wind Forgets Your Name is due out on September 9 via Sub Pop. Preorder the album here. Keep up with the band on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
