Built To Spill

If not for Built To Spill leader Doug Martsch’s catchy, concise rock songs and that signature wistful croon, the indie-rock saturation of the past decade may never have happened. But it did, and we’re probably the better for it. On its 2009 effort There Is No Enemy, the band expands on its already expansive sound, but adds elements of crystalline pop to the usual beard-and-flannel grind. Those moments might explain Enemy’s immediate follow-up, a lark of an EP that retrofits old BTS cuts as synth-pop numbers and makes anagrams of their titles (thus “Else” becomes “Eels”).

Updated 10/13/2010