You in Reverse

“It’s just a habit,” Built to Spill founder Doug Martsch sings near the end of the band’s first album in five years. But <i>You in Reverse</i>, however akin its often melancholy vocals and lyrics are to earlier BTS releases, finds the band with a new second guitarist (Jim Roth) and laying down some of its most sprawling, yet focused, studio tracks. The rushing “Goin’ Against Your Mind” lets drummer Scott Plouf take a lead role, while “Conventional Wisdom” pays homage to Television with a towering solo and even some chiming notes that could be straight from “Marquee Moon.” “Mess With Time” fittingly rumbles through a couple of tempo changes, at one point suggesting a kind of spaghetti-Western ska. Whether or not these songs’ sometimes bewildered verbal content reflects Martsch’s mood, their sonic attack gives notice that the man is nowhere near giving in.