Why in the name of all that is holy do people like Guided by Voices?

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What's the attraction? A while back, I downloaded some stuff that was recommended and deleted it straightaway - it was dull as hell.

Someone explain their supposed greatness to me. I just don't get it.

― geeta, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Also, why do people go on about how cool that Pollard guy is for drinking a lot of beer? Is it because the schmindie world can only apparently stomach tea, froufrou mixed drinks, and the occasional "ironic" PBR?

New utterly confused answers.

― geeta, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

drinking beer and listening to the who makes you 'working class'

― ethan, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

ms. libre to thread!! ha ha ha ha

― Jeff W, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

GET OFF ME, Jeff, or I am not sending you my CDs. Probably for the best cuz it's all songs recorded by Pollard while he was on the toilet. It's the epitomy of indie-ness. I switched to rum.

Sigh, and to think I was waiting till someone would say "Lubre to thread".

― cuba libre (nathalie), Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

He drinks a lot of beer? Oh OK then he is cool. I didn't know that.

― Tom, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Because "Teenage FBI" was the greatest TV theme tune ever. Even though its never been used as a theme tune. Y'see?

― Dom Passantino, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

They are good until you see them live. Then you hate them.

― jel --, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

though pollard with beard in the Fog is cool.

― jel --, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

GBV's coolness has nothing to do with beer drinking; that's an incidental and colorful detail, as far as some people are concerned. I used to enjoy the process of parsing their signal from their noise. Then I made myself a best-of-GBV CD-R (it goes Over the Neptune - Shocker in Gloomtown - Teenage FBI - Blimps Go 90 - Gold Star for Robot Boy - Bulldog Skin - The Official Ironmen Rally Song - Game of Pricks etc.), I like it as much as e.g. Singles Going Steady for no-hassle tune excellence, and I find I never listen to any of the actual GBV albums any more...

― Douglas, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

The reasons to hate and love Guided by Voices are one in the same.

1. Robert Pollard is a drunken bafoon. 2. He releases tons of albums each year, many of which are of poor quality and very inconsistent. 3. The songs he writes can oftentimes be short, nonsensical, having shoddy production. 4. The band is a rotating cast of characters so pretty much it's all about Bob, all the time.

Yes, I quite like all these things. The live shows are entertaining, if you like that sort of thing. The songs are fun and you can sing along, it's like jock jams or a lofi Queen for indie kids.

― Jeff, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Wow, I guess none of you have eally heard GbV then? Douglas got close. First off, what you guys are complaining about (legendary drunkenness, legendary prolificness etc.) is just what their rabid fans carp on. If your basis on whether you like a band is based on what their fans like, then yeah, GbV can seem annoying.

I think they're great cos I love Pollard's songs. pretty simple, I guess. if you don't, then you don't.

As far as "rotating cast of characters," the lineup went through a complete overhaul in '97 or so, but has been remarkably consistent save for the drummers. bob writes all the songs though, so I guess it is all about him. Get "Bee Thousand" or "Under The Bushes.." and you'll hear what I think makes them amazing.

― martin, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Much as I hate to admit it, the thread really can be edited down to this:

Q. Why in the name of all that is holy do people like Guided by Voices?
A. No-hassle tune excellence.

Similarly, Bob Pollard's output could be edited down as such:

1. Alien Lanes
2. Bee Thousand

― nabisco%%, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

haha, nitsuh pollard is the most variable tunesmith per capita in history of pop/rock!

(nb: i own several gbv albums.)

― jess, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

I own none at all. Pete played one at a dinner party recently and claimed it was to annoy me. I wasn't annoyed really though I thought it was pretty bad.

― Tom, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Which one was it?

― Jeff, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Tom I have one (uh unless I sold it) and without thinking I would have to say it is the album most likely for you to not like that I have owned. I hate it too.

― Josh, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Pete which one was it? Pete doesn't read ILM any more I dont think.

― Tom, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

ptee is wise.

― jess, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Wow, I guess none of you have eally heard GbV then?
The boxset is one of my favourite releases, actually, after Alien Lanes. The reason I gave up is that I don't really like the production on the last few albums. And there's only so much I can buy of one particular artist. I am (never was nor will be) a completist. Especially Ocasek's production on DTCollapse was very off putting for me. I also dislike artists who can't *edit* themselves (is that the right word?). It results in a patchy body of work.

― cuba libre (nathalie), Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Haha you say that Jess but he quit when you joined!

― Tom, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

:-O

― jess, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

jess = nu-ilm haha

― mark s, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

:-O

― jess, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

I bought Bee Thousand a year ago and had an extremely hard time getting past the production (had? still have!). So I bought Do the Collapse used and found it much more listenable, but still not very good. (I've been told Isolation Drills is the better of the major label records by many, but I don't want to get burned on another GBV record I may not enjoy.) Pollard can be a great songwriter at times (there are maybe 2-3 songs on the two albums I own I would consider great), so I can see why people like them.

― Vinnie, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

He's written some great songs. Both Bee Thou & Alien Lanes are good, as everyone has said, but I haven't really enjoyed the other records I've heard.

I enjoy the live show too. Mostly for the fact that they play lots of upbeat numbers, one right after another, and focus on being entertaining (instead of just "doing their thing and if anyone likes it that's a bonus.") But the last time I saw them I started to feel sorry for Pollard. He just looked like such a pathetic drunk up there, an overgrown child. He never missed a note or a lyric, so the music didn't suffer, but I just hated to see him making an idiot of himself. It's one thing to be 22-year old Paul Westerburg drunk in a wading pool, but Pollard has kids in college. He should have moved on a long time ago.

― Mark, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

I've been into the Geebs since "Grand Hour" and it's always been the songwriting for me. If production concerns you in any way then of course you're going to find GbV difficult. "Bee Thousand" is chock full of excellent pop songs (it's not even a particularly rock and roll album). "Vampire on Titus/Propellor" is also frequently amazing but has a lot more chaff. I don't really rate "Alien Lanes" quite as much though. I'm probably alone in thinking this, but "Isolation Drills" I rate as Pollard's third best work (after BT and VoT).

― electric sound of jim, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

when robert pollards a good songwriter, hes a great songwriter. "bee thousand" is a really great record for this reason. i had a boxset of their early stuff once, but his songwriting didn't really shine on any of it. "under the bushes" and "mag earwhig" also have some good songs. i like shoddy production.

― di, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

my fave gbv song is 'my thoughts are a gas' which is on what's up matador. also 'no sky'.

― Ron, Thursday, 30 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Still love 'Bee Thousand' and 'Alien Lanes', but find myself agreeing more with Bob Pollard Assasinations than Bob Pollard Hagiographies, enough so that when Dennis Cooper calls Bob Pollard an unrecognized genius it makes me question everything else I've read by the guy. Blame it on close proximity to GBV fans, quarterly appearances by Pollard and whatever hacks he's got backing him up at the time. Still, 'Bee Thousand', 'Alien Lanes', and especially The Onion headline "Bob Pollard Fires Himself" - classic.

― J Blount, Friday, 31 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

There was some interview with him about four years back where he was complaining about Oasis when you just knew the real reason for his disaffection was that they were famous and he was not.

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 31 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

I can remember some Matador newletter, circa late '95, with some joke about everyone biting their style, specifically pointing out Oasis' success and saying 'Guided By Voices have been ripping off the Beatles for years!'

― J Blount, Friday, 31 May 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

6 months pass...

dear god i wish i had heeard alein lanes.

― di smith (lucylurex), Tuesday, 10 December 2002 07:02 (10 years ago) Permalink

It was Do The Collapse.

― Pete (Pete), Tuesday, 10 December 2002 16:03 (10 years ago) Permalink

k-blimey, it's an ILE invasion ;)

― zebedee, Tuesday, 10 December 2002 16:08 (10 years ago) Permalink

Back when I decided the mainstream wasn't nerdy enough for me, I really got off on the idea that he made these great pop tunes in his garage and whatnot. However, as I gained an appreciation for the editing process, lyrics, and craft, I found myself less endeared to his carelessly carefree ways. That said, I still enjoy "Bee Thousand" (still my fave), "Alien Lanes," "Under The Bushes..." and "Isolation Drills". Lyrics are 90% complete hogwash so if you're not impressed by catchy tunelets performed enthusiastically if messily there really aint much else there for you.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 10 December 2002 16:46 (10 years ago) Permalink

10 months pass...

So now there's this best-of and I'm all like "Oh great, I can finally hear what's so great about this band without wading through 88 hours of pond-scum" and I put the thing on and it is COMPLETE FUCKING TORTURE! This is their BEST stuff? What the FUCK are people talking about?! "Catchy" "songs"?! Haha "hooks"?!?! And even for an indie-rock guy Pollard can NOT fucking SING!! ARE YOU PEOPLE ALL ON THE FUCKING CRACK???? STOP SMOKING THE FUCKING CRACK! IT IS BAD FOR YOU!

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 04:27 (9 years ago) Permalink

200 posts by morning.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 04:30 (9 years ago) Permalink

Jesus, no wonder Magnet worships these guys! It's like every dullard impulse in rock history has found its home in one place!

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 04:30 (9 years ago) Permalink

I had spent all this time thinking, "Well, maybe I'm just being unfair because I hate the titles and the fanboy aura and the Pollard's ultra-prolificness, I bet if there was a best-of I'd at least file it with the collection and use it for mix CDs every now and again," well HAW HAW HAW HAW HAW TO THAT!

(xpost haha Ned and a good 30 of them will be "That's because they picked the wrong songs, maaaaan...")

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 04:33 (9 years ago) Permalink

nu-ilm haha

My goodness, the meme is at least that old! Ack!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 04:38 (9 years ago) Permalink

Heard "Teenage FBI" on college radio. Liked it (thank you Ric). Downloaded it. Put it on a couple mixtapes. Failed to actually pursue GBV's music any further.

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 04:50 (9 years ago) Permalink

when i heard alien lanes, that was when i discovered that i really didn't like a lot of indie rock. i still have it (and haven't played it in years) though -- anyone wanna buy it offa me?

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 05:00 (9 years ago) Permalink

Matos -- you really hear nothing in "Motor Away"? If not, then toss that best-of (in the mail, to me, for a CD to be named later), there really is no hope. "Motor Away" was my in & that's a great rock tune -- catchy, hooky chords, the whole nine.

― Mark (MarkR), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 05:41 (9 years ago) Permalink

Esp w/'Auditorium' as an intro like on the video

― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 05:42 (9 years ago) Permalink

Matos is god

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 05:45 (9 years ago) Permalink

Ah fuck I guess he's right then

― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 05:46 (9 years ago) Permalink

Not to mention "Game of Pricks." Alien Lanes rules.

x-post, do you any other similar indie rock Matos? Maybe it's just not your thing.

― nickn (nickn), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 05:48 (9 years ago) Permalink

If memory serves, Matos likes Luna and Build to Spill so there has to be room for GBV in there somewhere.

― Mark (MarkR), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 05:49 (9 years ago) Permalink

Told you I was right, kinda!

Hey, this stuff was selected by the man himself so you KNOW it's dubious!

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 09:04 (9 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 249 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

I'm surprised no one has wheeled out one of Christgau's nastier smackdowns...

Bee Thousand [Scat, 1994]
On most of these 20-tracks-in-36-minutes, the tunes emerge if you stick around, but they're undercut by multiple irritants. The lyrics are deliberately obscure, the structures deliberately foreshortened, the vocals a record collector's Anglophilia-in-the-shower; the rec-room production is so inconsistent you keep losing your bearings, as befits resident art-rock fan Robert Pollard's boast (which echoes Lou Barlow's, what a coincidence) that some recordings aren't just first takes but first plays, of songs he'd dreamed up since the last time the band came over. In short, this is pop for perverts--pomo smarty-pants too prudish and/or alienated to take their pleasure without a touch of pain to remind them that they're still alive. B-

― Iago Galdston, Wednesday, 14 September 2011 19:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

greer has been posting a bunch of (surprisingly solid) unheard GBV tunes lately.
pop for perverts, eh? i mean, i don't disagree w/ xgau there -- one of the great things for me about classic GBV is the tension betw. the gorgeous melodies and the murky production. is that perverted?

― tylerw, Wednesday, 14 September 2011 20:11 (1 year ago) Permalink

so bad Jim seems to take them down every once in a while, I missed a few of them :(

― V79, Wednesday, 14 September 2011 20:13 (1 year ago) Permalink

yeah he's generally just leaving them up for a day or two. the underwater moonlight cover was interesting...

― tylerw, Wednesday, 14 September 2011 20:15 (1 year ago) Permalink

I think he's saying that GBV and their fans like their record collections too much and need to get laid more...if so, I plead guilty to both counts!

― Iago Galdston, Wednesday, 14 September 2011 20:20 (1 year ago) Permalink

xxxgau

― buzza, Wednesday, 14 September 2011 22:56 (1 year ago) Permalink

In short, this is pop for perverts--pomo smarty-pants too prudish and/or alienated to take their pleasure without a touch of pain to remind them that they're still alive.

i love some of xgau's stuff but this is just a garbage sentence.

― assume makes an ass out of u and me (but mainly u) (stevie), Wednesday, 14 September 2011 23:12 (1 year ago) Permalink

i know he's like the "greatest" or whatever but a lot of times that ppl post xgau reviews he seems like a choad

― the 500 gats of bartholomew thuggins (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 14 September 2011 23:21 (1 year ago) Permalink

What's RC's standing among the ILMers...I don't get the sense he's worshipped in these parts.

― Iago Galdston, Thursday, 15 September 2011 00:05 (1 year ago) Permalink

I've always been kind of curious about how Pollard worked it in the early days. I almost think that he would get together with some guys come up with some stuff on the spot throw it on the recorder and then do a couple of overdubs and then blammo it's done - more closer to improvised automatic songwriting to a 4-track than sitting around with a guitar polishing a song over and over. Some of the tunes sound more polished over than others, but I think a bunch of them were more or less jams with a couple of overdubs, probably nearly created on the spot.

Over a period of time, those raw pieces are edited into a compilation, which is why things that were way older would eventually end up coming out on later collections, as they kind of fit the feel of the tunes needed. Bee Thousand kind of works well as it kind of has that well made mix cassette feel. I think the first couple recordings are more from a working band, but I think the rest were kind of just made in weekend jams as Pollard kept a band going even though there really wasn't a band per say.

I'm not certain, but I would be pretty confident to say this is how many to most of these GBV tunes were blasted out. I think this and the compilation nature and how it came together is kind of lost, especially I don't think Pollard ever would have expected Guided by Voices to really catch on, but by some fluke it did. Pollard was a private press working joe home brew mix tape guy that somehow got popular to an extent. Xgau is right on that assessment, but the last line kind of misses the point that it was probably make music this way or not make music at all. In a way it's like busting on some Alan Lomax blues guy he recorded on their porch for not having balls to get out of the fields and go up to the big city and do something with himself.

― earlnash, Thursday, 15 September 2011 01:54 (1 year ago) Permalink

Stewart Lee is a big fan of this band apparently. I could never get into them tbh.

― Michael B, Thursday, 15 September 2011 02:18 (1 year ago) Permalink

I deleted this from the current poll thread because JFever doesn't need me crapping on anybody's enthusiasm while he's trying to run a poll, but

I listened to GBV this morning for about an hour and a half, thx spotify, and still just don't get it! Everything's roughly the same tempo, the same sound, samey samey samey. I'm just not hearing the hooks!

― Antonio Carlos Broheem (WmC), Thursday, 15 September 2011 02:29 (1 year ago) Permalink

don't feel too bad, i feel the same way. even caught them live a few times to see if that made a difference and, no

― remember yr man when he's at wooooooooooork (Z S), Thursday, 15 September 2011 02:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

i guess the other thing is i'm not a big fan of the who, either. so when fans are like "they're rocking out like the who! yeah!" it's not a plus

― remember yr man when he's at wooooooooooork (Z S), Thursday, 15 September 2011 02:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

i love The Who and imo they never rocked out like The Who

― some dude, Thursday, 15 September 2011 02:44 (1 year ago) Permalink

yeah, i don't think they sound like the who that much but it's more like i don't even like who they're apparently aspiring but failing to be

― remember yr man when he's at wooooooooooork (Z S), Thursday, 15 September 2011 02:45 (1 year ago) Permalink

maybe on their early albums they were aspiring to be REM. from 92 - 95 they weren't aspiring to be anyone and were one of the best rock bands going. christgau can eat a dick. honestly i have no idea how someone couldn't love the hell out of alien lanes. an incredible amount of variety, a million ideas crammed into tight spaces, great lyrics, great melodies. side 2 of under the bushes under the stars is one of the greatest runs of songs of the 90s

― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 15 September 2011 02:58 (1 year ago) Permalink

In short, this is pop for perverts--pomo smarty-pants too prudish and/or alienated to take their pleasure without a touch of pain to remind them that they're still alive.

The sentences before this one strike me as fair enough (and I love B1000), but this sentiment is straight BS from a long-time champion of "semi-popular" who cooed about how on Radio City "the harmonies sound like the lead sheets are upside down and backwards, the guitar solos sound like screwball readymade pastiches, and the lyrics sound like love is strange, though maybe that's just the context. Can an album be catchy and twisted at the same time?" Now if he wanted to say B1000 was a shitty Radio City, fine. But "pop for perverts" in and of itself ain't something he has a problem with.

― da croupier, Thursday, 15 September 2011 03:27 (1 year ago) Permalink

still think the best way to deal with these dudes is to approach them as an experimental band doing collage shit with classic rock radio gunk but realize that idea probably falls apart when dealing with the actual three-minutes-and-change ditties they tried writing toward the end.

― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Thursday, 15 September 2011 03:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

listening to old gbv is like listening to a radio playing a classic rock station that melted in the sun -- if that's not your thing, ok. not sure what being a perv has to do with it.

― some lady (La Lechera), Thursday, 15 September 2011 03:33 (1 year ago) Permalink

i am also a super annoying typical gbv lifer, so

― some lady (La Lechera), Thursday, 15 September 2011 03:34 (1 year ago) Permalink

great lyrics

i understand why people like magnetic poetry gobbledygook but i dunno why they feel the need to elevate it to the level of 'great lyrics'

― some dude, Thursday, 15 September 2011 03:42 (1 year ago) Permalink

pop for perverts--pomo smarty-pants too prudish and/or alienated to take their pleasure without a touch of pain to remind them that they're still alive

it's true that i can't listen to abba without my nipple clamps

― mookieproof, Thursday, 15 September 2011 03:49 (1 year ago) Permalink

"closer you are," "game of pricks," "motor away," etc. all are pretty awesome lyrically

― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 15 September 2011 03:52 (1 year ago) Permalink

listening to old gbv is like listening to a radio playing a classic rock station that melted in the sun -- if that's not your thing, ok. not sure what being a perv has to do with it.

yep. I've always felt that those best mid-90's albums were like getting bad reception from a station transmitting from another galaxy. The aching of wanting a better signal had something to do with the appeal for me. Not sure how else to put it.

― Darin, Thursday, 15 September 2011 03:55 (1 year ago) Permalink

If GBV had been teenage girls singing about how their dish detergent was promoting male hegemony, Xgau would have been all over it. I'm more of a fan of him than of GBV, but occasionally he was an idiot and occasionally GBV were geniuses, and Bee Thousand is one of those times.

― dlp9001, Thursday, 15 September 2011 03:59 (1 year ago) Permalink

i even feel that way about the late 80s albums

i don't understand what's NOT to like about gbv, honestly -- if you like rock music, you are likely to find at least one gbv song that you like, it's inevitable because there are so many, and they are not actually samey if you listen to them all. you may need an interpreter to find your way through the muck, but when you stumble across it, it feels roughly equivalent to finding a piece of solid gold on the floor of a portajohn on your way out. like you may not have seen it on the way in, but you sure as hell noticed it on the way out and -- look at that-- you're surprise rich to boot.

i also think it helps to know how exceptionally grim dayton, oh is, and what it feels like to live in a town like that. knowing that someone was making awesome rock music in his garage after his day job as a 4th grade teacher (and on weekends, of course) is just, i'll admit it, super inspiring to me.

i mean, if anyone really cares why. i don't really care why i like gbv, i just do.

― some lady (La Lechera), Thursday, 15 September 2011 04:03 (1 year ago) Permalink

The aching of wanting a better signal had something to do with the appeal for me.

yes.

― nerve_pylon, Thursday, 15 September 2011 04:06 (1 year ago) Permalink

when i first started reading the board in 2005 i thought the still semi-regular gbv bashing was so odd, i mean who gave a shit about them by that point. like opposing them in 95 because you hated lo-fi or whatever makes sense, but why the seemingly amiable bob pollard became the poster boy for all the failures of indie is a mystery. i guess it had something to do with annoying fans, idk?

― buzza, Thursday, 15 September 2011 04:13 (1 year ago) Permalink

The sad thing about Pollard and GBV is that once he had the brass ring in hand, it fell apart. It's a pretty interesting rock and roll story, if nothing else and eventually a screenwriter will either tell the tale or co-op it. I saw them quite a bit, being a Midwestern dude and over a period of years it went from really fun to kind of sad live. The first few times I saw them, I thought it was some of the most concentrated rock and roll joy I have ever seen. The last time I saw them it was really bad and kind of sad. Ever since then I have wondered if Pollard might have had second thoughts on how it all played out.

Are they the second coming of some kind of 60s rock pop? Probably not. Is what they were doing in the early mid 90s kind of interesting in context, I think so. How much it has relevance it has now when you can have a 24 bit 192khz studio in your pocket, I cannot for certain say. I dig the stuff I dig then. Dude needed an editor as it went on, but it all came out I guess.

― earlnash, Thursday, 15 September 2011 04:14 (1 year ago) Permalink

revive needs some dmr + daddino

― mookieproof, Thursday, 15 September 2011 04:15 (1 year ago) Permalink

idgi either, and i've been around since about 2006? why do people give a shit about hating on gbv? i do remember the sad phase, though, and it was enough to make me jaded enough to not go to the reunion show. i've had my ups and downs with liking them intensely.

still, however much you hate sloppy bellowing moronic drunkard bob pollard, try to imagine this song being sung by a girl in a language that is not english and then tell me it's not a good pop song! it's good!

― some lady (La Lechera), Thursday, 15 September 2011 04:19 (1 year ago) Permalink

that is a hell of a lot of drums. were they opening for magma or something?

― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Thursday, 15 September 2011 04:21 (1 year ago) Permalink

this band had some cool songs imo

― Lamp, Thursday, 15 September 2011 04:22 (1 year ago) Permalink

no, wait a second. i DID go to the reunion show, i did not go to the "final" NYE show -- and it was in chicago. it was expensive!

― some lady (La Lechera), Thursday, 15 September 2011 04:28 (1 year ago) Permalink

I went to the last two Chicago shows and those will be the last ones I attend. FINAL.

― Jeff, Thursday, 15 September 2011 12:55 (1 year ago) Permalink

revive needs some dmr + daddino

holla

not sure what to say if people are gonna get all "gbv doesn't have hooks" and "I don't really like the Who" up in here

I think the Who comparisons came more from their stage shtick at first (Pollard's high kicks and Daltrey mic swings, Mitch Mitchell doing windmills) but the later hi-fi "we're actually arena rock and not some weird alien idea of arena rock" songs have def. got some explicit Who

― dmr, Friday, 16 September 2011 03:46 (1 year ago) Permalink

actually Demons Are Real off Bee Thousand kinda sounds like the Who

I saw GBV cover Baba O'Reilly as the last (second last?) encore song of a 3-hour set in Baltimore, we had all been at the Preakness drinking since noonish and the show ended at probably like 1 in the morning. We pretty much poured beer on each others heads and sang along really loud.

cool story bro

― dmr, Friday, 16 September 2011 03:49 (1 year ago) Permalink

tbh only thing "demons are real" sounds like is tenacious d

― bentelec, Friday, 16 September 2011 04:17 (1 year ago) Permalink

"demons are real" is like ten seconds long. they are standing still

― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 16 September 2011 05:19 (1 year ago) Permalink

my fondest live GBV memory was when Pollard invited the entire audience onstage to sing "Hot Freaks". Half the room must have gotten up there. Security did not look pleased.

― Darin, Friday, 16 September 2011 05:22 (1 year ago) Permalink

feel like lots of people who "don't get" guided by voices are just kind of uptight

― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 16 September 2011 05:25 (1 year ago) Permalink

"also a popular musician"

― slugbuggy, Friday, 16 September 2011 08:23 (1 year ago) Permalink

I have never actually listened to them before and so went and checked out some youtubes and feel that the Who is all over these guys. They aren't a Who tribute band or anything, but from the 4 songs I listened to the influence is pretty apparent. I fucking hate the Who, but this stuff seems alright, just not something I'd listen to.

― rustic italian flatbread, Friday, 16 September 2011 12:37 (1 year ago) Permalink

I think the Who comparisons came more from their stage shtick at first

No, it's not just that, the way Pollard writes a lot of the songs is similar to Townshend, they've both got a propensity for moving chord shapes up and down the guitar while keeping an open D ringing (technical term anyone?), Pollard does it all the time and Townshend used to

― Juice Should Be Sterliized (Tom D.), Friday, 16 September 2011 12:44 (1 year ago) Permalink

10 months pass...

96.

Some of Sprout's songs -- "Waves" especially -- have the sullen loveliness of my favorite GBV moments, but otherwise, the new stuff hasn't quite killed me. And since nearly everything GBV did that I love actively repelled me at first, I take this as a bad sign.

― Michael Daddino, Sunday, 5 August 2012 16:50 (9 months ago) Permalink

8 months pass...

http://www.the-fly.co.uk/news/article/1018159/listen-new-guided-by-voices-album/

That url is deceptive. It's only five tracks from English Little League, but they're batting 1000 with these. Starting to think the reunion was actually worth it!

― Johnny Fever, Monday, 22 April 2013 15:34 (1 month ago) Permalink

yeah, these are great, all five of 'em. cribbed from the blueprint of past glories, some will say, but so what? good song is good. esp dig the "sullen loveliness" (daddino otm) of the sprout tune.

― I have many lovely lacy nightgowns (contenderizer), Monday, 22 April 2013 16:02 (1 month ago) Permalink

And here's some b-sides: http://thequietus.com/articles/12045-guided-by-voices-glue-on-bicycle-english-little-league

"Build A Bigger Iceberg" too good to be relegated to b-side status imo.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, 22 April 2013 16:04 (1 month ago) Permalink

i'm enjoying the newie a lot - nothing is really standing out for me but there's only one howler (noble insect)

― six times? (electricsound), Thursday, 2 May 2013 02:54 (3 weeks ago) Permalink

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