Former Treepeople frontman Doug Martsch formed Built to Spill in 1992 with Brett Netson and Ralf Youtz as the band's original members. In an interview with Spin magazine, Martsch stated that he intended to change the band's lineup for every album, with Martsch being the only permanent member. After the band's first album, Ultimate Alternative Wavers (1993), the lineup changing idea held true, as both Netson and Youtz were replaced by Brett Nelson (not Netson) and Andy Capps for 1994's There's Nothing Wrong With Love. A compilation album called The Normal Years, consisting of recordings by both the first and second trios, was released in 1996. Between recording albums in 1995, the band gained notoriety by playing on the Lollapalooza tour.
Martsch signed Built To Spill to the Warner Brothers label in 1995. Unlike many artists signed to major labels, however, the deal the band brokered with Warner allowed it to retain a large degree of creative control over future albums. Built to Spill produced its first major label release in 1997 with Perfect From Now On. By this time, the band consisted of Martsch, Nelson, Netson, and Scott Plouf. Perfect From Now On met with critical success and caused Built To Spill to become one of the United States' most recognizable indie rock bands. Before releasing another album, Martsch made Nelson and Plouf permanent members of the band. In 1999, the band released Keep It Like a Secret to continued critical success, and for the first time, significant commercial success. In response to fan requests, the Live album was released in 2000. The band's fifth studio album, Ancient Melodies of the Future, was released in 2001. Martsch also released Now You Know, a solo album with both blues and folk elements, in 2002. After 2002, Warner Bros. records signed the band to another album.
Built To Spill did not tour as a band in 2002 although Doug Martsch performed numerous solo concerts in support of his solo album. From 2003 to 2005, Built To Spill toured extensively with over 150 live performances, playing new songs live as early as 2004. In 2004, the band confirmed rumors that they had recorded another studio album in Portland, OR, titled You In Reverse. The album was not released in 2005 due to difficulties associated with the use of a new recording facility, inefficiencies associated with self-producing the album and time constraints. You In Reverse, the first studio album in five years, was released on April 11, 2006. The band's official lineup for the album featured Martsch, Nelson, Plouf, and Jim Roth, who was formerly a touring guitarist only. Former band member Brett Netson provided guitar work on several songs, Quasi's Sam Coomes provided keyboard work and Steve Lobdell, the owner of the Portland studio, plays on almost every song for the album including guitar, piano, vibes and percussion. Netson rejoined Built To Spill as an official member in 2006 after touring with the band in 2005.
The band announced an April/May 2006 tour in February 2006 in support of the new album. In late March 2006, however, frontman Doug Martsch suffered a detached retina that required surgery, causing the band to cancel its appearance at the South by Southwest music festival and postpone several of their tour dates. The band rescheduled the April and May tour dates in the fall, but most June dates on the West were not postponed. At their June 3, 2006 show, their first of the 2006 tour, Built to Spill played four unreleased songs that were not included on You In Reverse. This show also included the dedication of the song "Car" to former band member Andy Capps who had passed away a few weeks earlier that would continue throughout the tour.
In July 2007, Built To Spill released a new 12" vinyl single with two reggae-esque tracks, "They Got Away" and "Re-Arrange". According to Doug Martsch, BTS is not becoming a reggae band, they just "love to play it".
In 2009 Nelson replayed and recorded one song off of each full length Built To Spill album in ""New Wave circa 1982" style with analogue synthesizers and a drum machine having Martsch resing all of the songs and released it July 2010 through CDBABY,Itunes and Junketboy as The Electronic Anthology Project.Nelson's son (Nicholas) did the art/layout with the titles reworked as anagrams by his wife (Stephanie) he plans on future projects under the same moniker redoing other bands music.
Doug Martsch and original BTS drummer Ralf Youtz are also founding members of the much-loved, but short-lived, band the Halo Benders, with Calvin Johnson.
Youtz and Martsch are also brothers-in-law. (Martsch is married to Youtz's sister).
Ralf Youtz was leader of the Portland, Oregon band Ape Shape. He went on to pursue a Ph.D. in Mathematics.
Bret Netson is leader of the influential art/metal Boise band Caustic Resin, which put out a split 10" with BTS in 1995. That album has two different cover photos because a found photo was used without permission for the original version, but the photographer later found out and objected.
The Host
Built to Spill Lyrics
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They don't even seem real
They never try, so why should I
Something is wrong
Something invisible is gone
They never mind, so why should I
Don't you get hurt
Don't you ever need a cure
And why and why
After awhile
After neither one (abides?)
They won't decide, so why should I
When they hand it over
Give it all away
Well how can you explain
When they hand it over
No one gets their way
No one gets their (brain?)
Don't you get tired
Of everyone that you admire
They'll never die, so why should I
Something is wrong
Something invisible is gone
They never mind, so why should I
When they hand it over
Give it all away
Well how can you explain
When they hand it over
No one gets away
No one gets the blame
The lyrics in "The Host" by Built to Spill seem to convey a sense of disillusionment and frustration with those who seem devoid of feeling or agency. The singer questions their own motivations for caring or trying, when others seem content to never feel, never try, or never mind. It's as though something invisible has been lost, something that makes life worth living or striving towards. The repeated refrain of "when they hand it over" adds to a sense that something has been taken, or maybe that things are simply out of the singer's hands.
The lines "don't you get hurt / don't you ever need a cure / don't you get tired" suggest that the singer's frustration may be born out of some kind of emotional pain, imbalance, or fatigue. It's possible that the people they're referring to are either incapable or unwilling to understand or help them, leading them to question the point of trying at all. The final verse, which repeats the same lines as the first, suggests a cyclical sense of hopelessness.
Line by Line Meaning
They never feel
The people being referred to lack emotion.
They don't even seem real
The people being referred to appear fake and insincere.
They never try, so why should I
The people being referred to do not put in effort, so there is no reason for the singer to do so either.
Something is wrong
The artist senses something negative happening.
Something invisible is gone
The artist cannot pinpoint what is wrong, but something important is missing.
They never mind, so why should I
The people being referred to do not care, so the singer sees no reason to either.
Don't you get hurt
The singer questions whether the people being referred to are capable of feeling hurt.
Don't you ever need a cure
The artist wonders if these people need healing or redemption.
Don't you get tired
The artist questions whether the people being referred to ever experience fatigue.
And why and why
The artist continues to question why the people are the way they are.
After awhile
Over time,
After neither one (abides?)
After neither party takes action or complies,
They won't decide, so why should I
The people being referred to refuse to make decisions, so the singer sees no reason to try.
When they hand it over
When the people being referred to relinquish control,
Give it all away
They give up their power without consideration or restraint.
Well how can you explain
The artist is perplexed by this behavior and cannot comprehend it.
No one gets their way
No one is truly satisfied by this course of action.
No one gets their (brain?)
It is unclear what this line means, but possibly no one gets their full potential or understanding.
Don't you get tired
The singer repeats their question about fatigue, perhaps expecting a different answer.
Of everyone that you admire
The artist questions whether the people being referred to are truly worthy of admiration if they refuse to take action or make decisions.
They'll never die, so why should I
The people being referred to seem invincible or immune to consequences, so the artist sees no reason to take risks either.
Something is wrong
The artist repeats their earlier assertion that something is amiss.
Something invisible is gone
The singer reiterates that something important is missing, but cannot explain what it is.
They never mind, so why should I
The artist repeats this line to emphasize that the people being referred to do not care, so neither should the artist.
When they hand it over
The repeated line suggests that the course of events has not changed and the people being referred to continue to give up control.
No one gets away
The consequences of the actions described affect everyone involved, so no one can escape blame or criticism.
No one gets the blame
The consequences of the actions described do not lead to anyone bearing responsibility or consequences.
Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
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