Watch It Happen

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Watch It Happen album cover
Album Information
EDITOR'S PICK

Total Tracks: 11   Total Length: 35:59

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J. Edward Keyes

Editor-in-Chief

J. Edward Keyes has been writing about music for nearly 15 years, a fact he occasionally finds terrifying. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, the Village V...more »

08.04.06
The breakup record Built to Spill never made
2000 | Label: Rocket Girl / IODA

"One day I'll my life to drugs and bars/ and sleep all day / and waste my life away," sings Quentin Stotltzfus at the outset of "Deed to Drugs." It takes him all of two seconds to decide, "I think I'll start today." And can you blame him? An alternately searing and euphoric document of a breakup, Watch it Happen perfectly summarizes the mixed emotions that accompany a protracted separation. Every song here is a golden great: the determined chug of "Wheats," the dizzying Perfect from Now On reel of "Chasing the Girl." Stoltzfus pours his heart out, stretching his tender, pained voice across yards of bright, blinding guitar — even namedropping Henry Darger's Vivian Girls almost a decade before a certain Brooklyn band would take the name to greater heights. It should've been indie rock gold, but it never really got out of Philly, and Stoltzfus made just two more records before hanging it up for good. But their debut is so fully realized and expertly executed it's hard to care. Stoltzfus perfectly captures every stray thought and passing notion, singing at one point: "I must have spent 30 days writing a simple melody / to tell you that… read more »

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Sorry they had to quit the scene

rokus.vandenbout

Having been one of the good bands of NJ,my sister's home state, even better than Bon Jovi, I felt sorry to read they had to quit the scene in 2006. Even before I could go to a gig.

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where are they now? we need them

syoury

Love this album. Beautiful and fun...

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