Additional personnel: Sam Coomes (keyboards).

Principally recorded at Bear Creek, Woodinville, Washington in November 1997.

Personnel: Sam Coomes (keyboards).

Recording information: AVAST! Recording Co., Seattle WA (11/1997-02/1998); Bear Creek, Woodinville, WA (11/1997-02/1998).

Photographer: Jeff Smith .

Having led Built to Spill down the road of majestic guitar duels on 1997's PERFECT FROM NOW ON, group mastermind Doug Martsch decided to downplay (but not shelve) his six-string heroics here. Instead, the focus of Built to Spill's fourth proper full-length is the ensemble playing. Having for the first time in B2S' existence retained his rhythm section (bassist Brett Nelson, drummer Scott Plouf) for a second consecutive album, Martsch shows off what may be the strongest power trio in rock circa 1999. Consequently, KEEP IT LIKE A SECRET coalesces into a powerful classic rock band statement at a time when those are hard to find.

Lyrically, Martsch's concerns have retained the indie rock community's focus--its outsider status ("Carry the Zero") and ability to self-reference rock's long history to get its plaints across ("You Were Right"). Structurally, he has streamlined his songs into concise rock-pop nuggets that carry more crunch than his Up records ever mustered, fitting his epic way with a melody into a more radio-friendly package. What comes out is a great (and different) Built to Spill record, proudly displaying its strengths and reveling in its uniqueness even while making concessions to a changing world.