Keep It Like A Secret

Every so often an album comes along that just leaves you with a big, gob-dawed smile on your face. Keep It Like A Secret is one such record. The third opus to seep out of the heart and mind of Boise, Idaho's Doug Martsch, this is a joy to behold.

If it were a Mastermind contestant, its specialist subject would be: Great Pop Hooks Of Our Times - from The Beatles to the Pixies. And it would swivel in the chair with the swagger of that cocky librarian who knows he's won the vase. For Martsch has an unerring sense of melody as well as a quirky, playful way with words which is his and his alone. Plus, his broad American drawl has the warm-but-wracked quality of a Jonathan Donahue.

Opener 'The Plan' takes you to Grand Tuneful Station direct, though there are moments elsewhere when the band take the slow train and show they can noodle with the best of them. 'You Were Right' is an amusing trawl through famous lines in rock's past, namechecking songs from John Mellencamp to the Stones and creating a sort of ironic montage of disillusionment.

Best of all though is 'Carry The Zero', an adrenalin rush of undiluted American guitar pop that ranks with anything to have ever come out of Boston's Fort Apache studios.

With music this vibrant, it's hard to see how Built To Spill can remain a secret for much longer.