Additional personnel: Wayne Rhino Flower (guitar, bass); John McMahon, Gretchen Yanover (cello); Eric Akre (percussion); Chad Shaver.

Recorded in May and June 1994.

Beneath the wacky guitar fooling and somewhat nasal vocals, Built to Spill write great love songs, whether its bouncy pop or fragile melodies. Strings are used to good effect on three songs, and vocal harmonies make this disc an all-around winner. ~ John Bush

With THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH LOVE, Idaho native and former Treepeople singer-guitarist Doug Martsch (aka Built To Spill) brings the lush pop-rock of the Beatles and Beach Boys kicking and screaming into the Sonic Youth era. Built To Spill marries the timeless and the modern so naturally that even brilliant, like-minded contemporaries like Guided By Voices and the Flaming Lips seem calculated. None of these songs crosses the dreaded four-minute mark. Maximum heavy-pop pleasure is squeezed into concise verse-chorus-verse-guitar-crunch nuggets. Together, they form a low-fidelity symphony that uplifts the spirit with every string-enhanced hook.

Everything about the album has the glow of wide-eyed innocence, and it is unleavened by the sarcasm and irony that come naturally to so many of Martsch's contemporaries. Characters freely talk to stars, re-imagine history, praise David Bowie's merits over those of step-parents (naturally!) and demand to "see IT now," as though nothing is beyond grasp. On "Distopian Dream Girl," one of a handful of stone-cold classics here, Martsch tells a lover (or maybe a daughter?), "If I could choose between your life or mine, I'd do the stupid thing/And let you keep on living." This is tear-jerking pop music carried by a faith in people, and by a true sense of wonder.