Let’s grab the Great Blindfold Of Destiny and throw a dart at a map of the good ole U.S. of A. to discover where we’ll randomly pull our next band from…..

…..

Idaho.

Hmmm. It’s a small pool but it’s still big enough to dive into. The world record for shallow diving is four stories into less than a foot of water, so I think we can manage it.

Doug Martsch formed the band Built To Spill in Boise, Idaho in the early 90’s. His original plan involved handling all the lead singer/guitarist/songwriting duties himself, and then he’d switch up his rhythm section with each successive album. For the band’s sophomore effort, There’s Nothing Wrong With Love, a new bass player and drummer did, indeed, join Martsch, but eventually this plan went by the wayside and the lineup stabilized.

“Distopian Dream Girl,” the second single from There’s Nothing Wrong With Love, was released in 1994. I don’t know the origins of the song — or whether they chose to misspell “Distopian” intentionally or not — but I do hope the lyrics are drawn from real life, and that Doug actually has a stepfather cursed with looking like David Bowie while simultaneously hating David Bowie. Delicious, 3 Michelin stars irony. One self-loathing, sexy stepdad who hates aliens and rebels but has cheekbones to die for.

If you received a mix tape from me in 1994, this track and its ramshackle guitar noise was likely on it:

For anyone recently joining the party, the Hey, What’s That Song? series generally comprises songs on the more obscure side of the spectrum, as opposed to those in Song Of The Week, which lean (even if only slightly) a little more in the direction of well-known. Also, I’ve taken a couple of long hiatuses since this blog started over a decade ago and each time I return a couple more categories fall by the wayside. It’s basically just five now. I’m slowly streamlining. Aerodynamics.