Performer Notes

Built To Spill: Doug Martsch (vocals, guitar); Brett Nelson (bass); Andy Capps (drums).
Additional personnel: Wayne Rhino Flower (guitar, bass); John McMahon, Gretchen Yanover (cello); Eric Akre (percussion); Chad Shaver.
Recorded in May and June 1994.
Personnel: Wayne Rhino Flower (guitar); John McMahon, Gretchen Yanover (cello); Eric Akre (percussion).
Recording information: John And Stu's (05/1994-06/1994).
Photographer: Nate Taylor.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Andy Capps; Chad Shaver; Brett Nelson.
With THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH LOVE, Idaho native and former Treepeople singer-guitarist Doug Martsch (aka Built To Spill) brings the lush pop-rock of the Beatles and Beach Boys kicking and screaming into the Sonic Youth era. Built To Spill marries the timeless and the modern so naturally that even brilliant, like-minded contemporaries like Guided By Voices and the Flaming Lips seem calculated. None of these songs crosses the dreaded four-minute mark. Maximum heavy-pop pleasure is squeezed into concise verse-chorus-verse-guitar-crunch nuggets. Together, they form a low-fidelity symphony that uplifts the spirit with every string-enhanced hook.
Everything about the album has the glow of wide-eyed innocence, and it is unleavened by the sarcasm and irony that come naturally to so many of Martsch's contemporaries. Characters freely talk to stars, re-imagine history, praise David Bowie's merits over those of step-parents (naturally!) and demand to "see IT now," as though nothing is beyond grasp. On "Distopian Dream Girl," one of a handful of stone-cold classics here, Martsch tells a lover (or maybe a daughter?), "If I could choose between your life or mine, I'd do the stupid thing/And let you keep on living." This is tear-jerking pop music carried by a faith in people, and by a true sense of wonder.

Professional Reviews

Spin (9/99, p.153) - Ranked #64 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s."

Melody Maker (5/16/00, p.46) - 5 stars out of 5 - "One of the best American guitar records of the '90s..."

Melody Maker (11/4/95, p.37) - "...There's a really unsettling painting called `Christina's World' by Andrew Wyeth, where a girl lies in a cornfield limply staring at a few wooden buildings. In all that space there's a damaging claustrophobia and no matter how bouncy BTS get, they're still tainted with this strange, arid Americana..."

New York Times (Publisher) (1/5/95, p.C15) - Included on Neil Strauss' list of the Top 10 Albums Of '94 - "...Jagged layers of guitar, a piecemeal approach to pop music and sharp, introspective lyrics....[NOTHING WRONG WITH LOVE] shined like a sequin on the dirty shirt of indie-rock."

NME (Magazine) (10/28/95, p.53) - 7 (out of 10) - "...the work of a band who've parked their guitars between Pavement and Flaming Lips, and added their own jangly bits....The feel is SGT. PEPPER warmth meets flannel rock basics....As with Guided By Voices, BTS put the essential into quintessential Yank rock..."

Pitchfork (Website) - "[I]t captures a truly original songwriting voice at the exact moment he realized what he had to offer. It's the album as snow globe, a small place where interconnected stories happen and you can get a different perspective on them depending on your vantage point."

Album: There's Nothing Wrong with Love
#	Song Title	Time
1)	In the Morning
2)	Reasons
3)	Big Dipper
4)	Car
5)	Fling
6)	Cleo
7)	Source, The
8)	Twin Falls
9)	Some
10)	Distopian Dream Girl
11)	Israel's Song
12)	Stab
13)	Preview

Album: There's Nothing Wrong with Love
#	Song Title	Time
1)	In the Morning
2)	Reasons
3)	Big Dipper
4)	Car
5)	Fling
6)	Cleo
7)	Source, The
8)	Twin Falls
9)	Some
10)	Distopian Dream Girl
11)	Israel's Song
12)	Stab
13)	Preview