Singing вЂњLiving in the womb, running out of room, got to greet the sun and moon and -вЂќ Martsch breaks off mid-sentence for some serious string-twisting. вЂњCleo,вЂќ named after MartschвЂ™s son, Benjamin Cleo, may be the least corny rock song ever written from the point of view of a baby being born. ThereвЂ™s Nothing Wrong With Love telescopes MartschвЂ™s experimental urges into a focused album of three-to-four-minute deconstructed pop songs about growing up. вЂњRevolutionвЂќ and the bandвЂ™s theme song, вЂњBuilt to Spill,вЂќ are both excellent, but the standout is the infectious вЂњNowhere NothinвЂ™ Fuckup,вЂќ which begins as a critical anthem for losers and slackers and ends as a requiem for the entire country, with Martsch chanting, вЂњIn America / Every puddle / Gasoline rainbow.вЂќ The magic of Ultimate Alternative Wavers is that, although the unwound post-punk songs reach and even exceed the nine-minute mark, Martsch (here spelling his given name Dug) manages to endow each jagged, twisted guitar line with the emotion of the song, whether it be anger, introspection or love. His lyrics reflect on life and love with intellectual angst. His songs are divided into sections that go beyond verse-chorus-verse form, with pop ditties that stop halfway and turn into glorious landscapes of mangled guitar strings.

Over the next few albums and singles, Martsch proved himself to be one of indie-rockвЂ™s most striking songwriters and guitarists. In 1993, Doug Martsch of SeattleвЂ™s Treepeople returned to Boise, Idaho to escape the city, stop touring and record with an open-ended cast of backup musicians as Built to Spill.

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