{image1}Spill's first full-length CD, "Breakup Songs for Beginners," captures the vision of some of the most talented musicians in Milwaukee. It's also been a long time in the making, according to guitarist and singer Jack Rodee, who also is the quartet's main songwriter, producer and engineer.

Most of the band's members -- drummer Kirk Farber, bassist Chad Solberg and guitarist Andrew Hintz -- do some writing, Rodee says, and each has a pretty clear vision of what he wants to do with a particular song. It's that clear-headedness that makes Spill fairly unique among bands.

"Each of us usually comes in with a demo, or we play the song for each other and see what works," Rodee says. "The melody, structure and/or a signature riff are usually pretty well formed before it comes to the band. If someone has a suggestion for a drum beat or a vocal part we'll share that, but often enough were looking for each band member to bring their talents to the table and write a part for the song. We're not the kind of band that jams for hours on end at rehearsal and later pieces material together. The songs are really melody based so keeping the melody intact and building arrangements around that to put the songs in the best light is most important."

Spill's sound is a diverse one, thanks to the variety of voices represented, and is hard to pigeonhole. Built on melodic power pop, the quartet rocks harder than a jangly Beatles-based band, at times conjuring images of bands like Cheap Trick, Queen and Foo Fighters. In addition to getting play on WMSE, a tune called "Right Back Where I Started" has also earned spins on WUWM's "Cafe Tonight" show.

But don't think that Spill is four solo acts; it is a cohesive unit. It's just that a lot of the collective input comes later, during the recording stage. For Spill, recording is not a fast process.

"It took about two years to record, mix and master the record," Rodee admits. "Then it took another eight months to finish the artwork, have it pressed and get a date to release it. A lot of bands want to finish a record in a few weeks and just pump out new material. For us the recording process turned into a tool to become a better a band and better musicians. We demoed each song and found out what was or wasn't working. Then we honed in on getting the best bed tracks we could. After that it was all about getting solid parts that didn't get in the way of each other and worked to make the songs stronger. Some songs I had to relearn how to sing even though I had been singing them for quite some time."

If you can't tell, Rodee is a talented studio engineer and, working with veteran producer Michael Hoffmann, began attuning his ears early in his career. The result is that he's one of the city's best young producers, too.

But don't think for a second that making your own record is a breeze. For Rodee -- who has worked with Capital 8, Michelle Anthony, Dustworks and Nick Pipitone, to name a few -- it's tougher than doing someone else's sessions.

"Producing this CD was a much bigger and difficult task than any other record I've produced," he says. "Producing a record for another artist has a level of separation that really helps keep the perspective on track. It's easy to let self doubt, creative frustration and day-to-day issues get in the way of the recording process when you're working on your own material. That's where I really think taking more time to finish this record was a blessing."

With no forced deadline -- Spill has released "Breakup Songs for Beginners" itself -- Rodee says the band could work in a way that best suits it: slowly and alone.

"For example we recorded the basic tracks for each song live. Then once we we're happy with those basic tracks we moved on to another song. Because we could wait a few weeks or a month to go back to a song, we'd get a fresh look at it later. When you record a CD in two weeks it's all, 'Go, go, go! The clock is ticking,' and you let the producer worry about how it will all come together. In this case the pressure was off and we could concentrate on what we do best. Having some outside ears might have been good if that person understood our goal. The goal was to make a really strong record and become a stronger band in the process, which I know we accomplished. I've seen bands implode in the studio under pressure and that didn't happen to us doing the CD this way."

While Spill gets ready to officially launch the 10-track "Breakup Songs" with a release party at Points East Pub on Saturday, Jan. 15 (at 9 p.m.; Dustworks opens), the group continues to move forward.

"We have some new material we're playing right now and a bunch of songs that haven't been worked up yet since we're trying like crazy to promote this CD," says Rodee. "We're each always working on new songs so material isn't an issue. Break? What the heck is a break?"

Find Spill at spilltheband.com.