Mega
Self-released
4  Stars

Austin-based indie band Built By Snow comes from a city with a strong music tradition.  Austin, Texas is of course home to SXSW, one of the largest musical festivals in the United States. But because Built By Snow comes from the same Texas town that produced Spoon, Okkervil River, and Explosions In The Sky, the band is burdened with quite the pedigree from which it must emerge.  When the band self-describes on their official website, as “catchy keyboard indie pop rock,” the wealth of genres mentioned may confuse listeners trying to identify a single, cohesive sound. But the description is a good one: the band is both aware of its need to appeal a wide audience and its desire to sound different. The nine songs on Mega, Built By Snow’s debut LP, clock in at 21 minutes, and are consistently short, consistently heart-wrenching pop tunes.

“Giant Robot Attack,” though the title recalls an old Aquabats song, sounds like the twee-pop of Camera Obscura.  “Giant Robot Attack” is a video-game-influenced electronic song, clocking in at just 1 minute 12 seconds. The lyrics to “Something In 3D” are appropriate, coming from a band the balances electronic music with sincere chords and melodies; that the speaker wants needs “something in 3-D” seems a suitable subject in a modern world. “All the Weird Kids Know” is a petulant, angsty song, a la hellogoodbye. Though Built By Snow seems whiny and adolescent on the song, “All the Weird Kids Know” is a good candidate for radio play. “Implode Alright” is a quietly touching song that resists the temptation to expand into a loud, explosive rock song. 

“Algometric Touch” has the flat, unaffected chords of Blur at their finest. But unlike the music of Blur, the song is still in earnest, and the mention of an algometer – a technology invented for measuring emotional pain – again juxtaposes modernity with human feelings. “Invaders” is a masterpiece of indie-pop. The song falls perfectly between optimism and pessimism, sincerity and jadedness. Once again, “Science Of Love” demonstrates the band’s peculiar discussion of the dichotomy of biological functions of people and their emotions. And the way in which this dichotomy is expressed musically is an interesting intersection. “Attachment,” like “Giant Robot Attack,” isn’t quite a complete song, but the hinting of an idea. The repetition of the melody and the quality of the sound production give the song an artifact-like tone, and makes “Attachment” an interesting conclusion to Mega.

Though Built By Snow’s Mega is one of the more touching and affecting records of recent memory, the band doesn’t have any big names or support to set it apart from the many worthy bands. In a tough economy and a challenged music industry, the blissful 21 minutes of Mega may not garner the attention it deserves. – JULENE PAUL

 Band’s Website | MySpace