90's Jams #32: Built To Spill "I Would Hurt A Fly" (1997)

Dirty, lazy, levitating, eyes closed, scream with a whisper... Doug Martsch can't get that sound out of his head. He tries with that first "accidental" guitar chord, mistakenly hitting the strings with the side of his hand, or just strumming nonchalantly on whatever 4 notes just happen to get played (because "fuck it," that's why...), but a few seconds later it morphs into a well-planned and haunting guitar intro. Doug's lyrics tell the story, but the song and its performance project the feeling, with tasteful usage of cello conjuring vague memories of Nirvana Unplugged. Between their 2nd and 4th albums (between '94 and '99 - yet another brilliant 3-album run, nearly as impressive as Radiohead's), they ended up mastering the subdued epic, with this song possibly as the best and most well-crafted example. No noodling. No fuckin' around. Just feeling.