C or D : Guided By Voices.

absolute classic as far as i'm concerned. buy 'alien lanes', then 'under the bushes under the stars', then 'vampire on titus/propellor', then let yourself loose on the various and multitudinous offshoots and eps.

sxxx

c'ya.

agreed. also, bob drops the mystic/fairy tale goobledegook lyrics for once, in favour of some pretty fucken open and brutal lyrics about his marriage breakup. 'glad to see you' is *painfully* honest and to the point.

i love ID.

sxxx

It's the only GBV album I have, but it's great fun. I think maybe a couple of songs could have been left on the cutting-room floor, but largely it's quirky garage-pop excellence all the way. "I Am A Tree" is so instantly catchy, it actually could have broken them to a bigger audience, with a little good fortune. I may invest in some more GBV soon...

Others: Alien Lanes, Propeller, Vampire on Titus, Same Place the Fly Got Smashed, King Shit and the Golden Boys (those last two both appear in Box). Also, several in the Fading Captain Series are noteworthy; Speak Kindly of your Volunteer Firemen, Kid Marine, and also the Lexo & the Leapers' EP, Ask Them. ¥

the brides have hit glass

"Guided By Voices are back together and have recorded a new album, Let's Go Eat the Factory, that will be released on January 1st. It will be the band's first studio output since 2004, and their first to feature the lineup of Bob Pollard, Mitch Mitchell, Tobin Sprout, Kevin Fennell, and Greg Demos in over 15 years. Mojo broke the news."

but did they record it on cassette?

as much as certain GBV songs are well-worn constant favorites....uh...

I was in the right place for the initial run of GbV, but stopped caring long ago, though I've kept up in a half-assed way with like 80% of the new releases. Got "Factory" via Spotify out of curiosity. It's really pretty good. Kind of weird to listen to...sort of like hooking up with your ex-girlfriend from college, except you're both in your 40's now. Makes me think, more than ever, that GbV was not in fact Pollard + Granny on Bongos. I'm surprised to find myself playing this often.

it's not a bad record but it feels very anonymous to me, particularly tobin's contributions. i'd put it slightly ahead of half smiles.. the last boston spaceships record had some much stronger tracks

really dislike 'how i met my mother' and 'fats domino' is their most hookless single

Ahead of Half Smiles? no no no!

Granted, I've only played it through twice, and that was the NPR stream that went up pre-release, but it left me hollow and almost offended at how disjointed and, frankly, bad it was. Maybe I'll try it again some day, but I just don't want to now.

Never trust NPR streams. I've learned that the hard way...

I'm almost afraid to buy the new one, for fear of disappointment. "Fats" was okay. Have like 20 Pollard side project promos from the last couple years that I still haven't found time to play.

The new GBV album is surprisingly good, one of the best things Pollard's done in years and more interesting than the last few GBV albums were. If you're looking for an album of big hooky singles you're not going to find it. They're messing around in basements and bedrooms again like they did back in the early days, not trying to be the big rock band. I understand why people are disappointed, especially if what they're looking for is more 'hits', but it's really exceeding my expectations.

I've listened to it three times and I'm not feeling it at all beyond the odd track. It's among their bottom three albums for me.

Love it. Garnered way more plays from me than anything Bob's put out in years (not that I didn't like that stuff either).

have really come to love this, the more i play it.

Yeah, I really like this one and I kind of feel like a lot of the people that hate this had unreasonable expectations in the first place. No, it isn't Alien Lanes or Bee Thousand, hell even Mag Earwhig, but I do think its interesting and I like it the more I hear it.

unreasonable expectations

What's unreasonable about expecting something more than aimlessness for the most part? Bob still writes a handful of big, anthemic songs every year that he then distributes among his hundred different projects. Unfortunately, he used his most recent batch all up before getting around to making this latest GBV record. I don't mind a little aimless in my GBV, but it's got to be broken up by the BIG songs I can use as trailmarkers.

That wasn't aimed at you, btw, I was just referring to a lot of dismissiveness I've seen online that boils down to, "this sucks, Alien Lanes was so much better". Well, duh.

In terms of your complaints, I think there are a handful of those BIG songs. And I really like the aimlessness, particularly with Toby back in the mix.

Where I'm coming from is this - the first GBV music I heard was the 7"s from the time (Get Out of My Stations, Grand Hour, Fast Japanese Spin Cycle, Clown Prince of the Menthol Trailer) and then Vampire on Titus and then Bee Thousand, which had just come out. In that batch of music there are rock/pop anthems, sure, but overall there's more weird stuff that would probably fit your definition of "aimlessness". What I love about the new album is in spirit it goes back to that era. Plus, it surprises me, like their music originally surprised me - some of those Tobin songs in particular sound nothing like what he usually does, or like anything that's been on a GBV album before.

But I do imagine that if my first encounters with GBV were with the later lineup, more 'arena rock' stuff (which I also love, don't get me wrong), and I was looking for them to go that route (to pick up where GBV left off), I'd be disappointed.

Where I'm coming from is this - the first GBV music I heard was the 7"s from the time (Get Out of My Stations, Grand Hour, Fast Japanese Spin Cycle, Clown Prince of the Menthol Trailer) and then Vampire on Titus and then Bee Thousand, which had just come out. In that batch of music there are rock/pop anthems, sure, but overall there's more weird stuff that would probably fit your definition of "aimlessness". What I love about the new album is in spirit it goes back to that era. Plus, it surprises me, like their music originally surprised me - some of those Tobin songs in particular sound nothing like what he usually does, or like anything that's been on a GBV album before.

^^^ absolutely

yeah i think i agree. haven't spent *too* much time with the new one, but i like the fact that it isn't just jampacked w/ anthems. gbv, at their core, are a WEIRD band! and this is a weird album that I'm interested in exploring more. not sure if i'd be saying the same if Factory was just a bunch of Baba O'Riley soundalikes or w/e.

"Fats Domino" gets stuck in my head all the time. awesome song.

I dig the new album and agree it hearkens back to the sound of those '93-'94 eps but I would like to hear some more anthems on Class Clown.

Let It Beard and Mars Classroom and even the Lifeguards album from last year all had much stronger songwriting. In fact, I'm astonished Let It Beard in particular wasn't cited more (or at all) as one of the best rock albums of 2011...

I still recall playing Bee Thousand for a friend (with very well-informed and eclectic taste) when it came out. His comment was that inevitably the band was going to try to tighten up the songwriting and improve the production, and that they'd never live up to what he was hearing. He was mostly right...

Gotta say that "big anthemic songs" is about the *last* thing that impressed me about GbV the first time around. Personally "Hot Freaks" was the one I loved back in the day. It's really pretty amazing that they/he can still manage to 97% approximate the original sound at this point. It's almost like there'd been a Syd/Floyd reunion in the 80's that wasn't bad.

the sound of 'factory' + the songwriting of 'let it beard' would have been a total winner

I dig the new album and agree it hearkens back to the sound of those '93-'94 eps but I would like to hear some more anthems on Class Clown

i think that'll be the case. when i interviewed the band before xmas, kevin said he was surprised how much leeway to experiment bob had given tobin on factory, and that clown was a much more 'rock' record by comparison.

Where I'm coming from is this - the first GBV music I heard was the 7"s from the time (Get Out of My Stations, Grand Hour, Fast Japanese Spin Cycle, Clown Prince of the Menthol Trailer) and then Vampire on Titus and then Bee Thousand, which had just come out. In that batch of music there are rock/pop anthems, sure, but overall there's more weird stuff that would probably fit your definition of "aimlessness". What I love about the new album is in spirit it goes back to that era. Plus, it surprises me, like their music originally surprised me - some of those Tobin songs in particular sound nothing like what he usually does, or like anything that's been on a GBV album before.

this is exactly where i came in, except that i started w/ propeller followed by the singles and then the scat albums. if the new one (which i haven't heard) is anywhere near that good, i'll be in heaven. but those albums and singles were packed with anthems, right? "weed king", "mesh gear fox", "my impression now", "shocker in gloomtown", "wished i was a giant", i mean cmon...

"bears for lunch" thoughts? at the moment i'm liking it as much as class clown (and both way way more than factory)

bob's songwriting is holding up really well though i'm not loving tobin's stuff on the reunion records

obviously: I want to believe

That said I have enjoyed the first 8 tracks so far. First Tobin joint a joy.

I like Bears a lot and I think the three reunion records are equally good but not great. All 5 Boston Spaceships records are superior.

I've only heard White Flag from the latest batch of material, but it's one of the best things to come out of these new(ish) sessions imo.

Listening to The Bears for Lunch right now and it is hands down the best of the three reunion albums so far. Maybe the guys just had to fall back into a comfortable groove or something, but this is what I was hoping for initially.

Number of GBV songs about aircraft has to be way greater than 30 at this point.

I'm gonna have to listen to the new one a few more times, but so far I'm not really feeling it. Loved Class Clown Spots a UFO, though; so far I'd say the new one is more consistently good than Let's Go Eat the Factory but the highs on Factory are better than anything on here. Just my initial impression, though.

Also, really really disappointed with pretty much all of the Tobin songs on all three of these.

Yeah I think Tobin is being spread too thin. His songs on Bears sound like they belong on another record, they just don't sound like GBV songs. Also, his Forever Until It Breaks really dragged down the first side of Class Clown...

it's kind of amazing how good the guided by voices official greatest hits is

I've loved most of the Tobin songs! Particularly because they don't sound like typical GBV songs. I've actually found them to be a nice break from the Pollard songs, they kinda keep these interesting.

I really like "God Loves Us", and there's one towards the end of the new one that I like a lot but can't remember the name of right now, but I agree with ColinO that they sound like they belong on another record, not as much because of the songs themselves being too different, but it seems like Tobin goes off on his own and records his songs with minimal input from the rest of the band so they just don't fit with the sound of the rest of the album. Plus, I don't know, it bums me out to say it because I love his contributions to the '90s GBV records and his first couple solo albums are worthwhile, but I just think his new material is pretty weak.

old bones off the first reunion LP is one of my fave tobin songs of all time

^^^ thats a great one

and we're finally here
and shit yeah it's cool
and shouldn't it be?

yeah the greatest hits record was a total home run

OK time to contribute to this thread. I'd avoided these reunion albums because I thought "The Unsinkable Fats Domino" was such a feeble downer, but I've finally got around to listening to them. To start off with, releasing 3 albums and 60 tracks in one year is ridiculous and typical of the self-indulgence that's hobbled Pollard's career and led to former admirers deserting his cause in droves but that's an old debate and pointless because he's obviously not going to change now. Some good points: every successive album has been notably better than the one before, so they're headed in the right direction at least. Second, his vocals are sounding good - I've always thought his singing was one of the best things about his records but there was a time a few years back when they were in danger of becoming one of the worst things about them - but he's sounding really strong and confident again. Third, these albums have prised him from the airless deathgrip of Todd Tobias and that conveyor belt of prissy proggy albums that ALL SOUND EXACTLY THE SAME. (You could say that's he's gotten away from overwritten songs and gotten back to underwritten songs - tbh written songs are preferable to both). It's great to hear some Bob Pollard which isn't all bombastic heavy-handed drumming and flashy sub-Entwistle bass flummery, he's been trying to get his rhythm sections to play like it's "Quadrophenia" since "Universal Truths" (if not before) and it's FUCKING BORING, stop it! Ol' Tobin's pretty much the same as he's always been, reliable for one or two good songs an album but that's about it. All in all, I'm probably sounding a bit negative but I have actually enjoyed listening to these albums and if there had been ONE good one instead of three OK ones I would have been a hell of a lot more positive, But that's fucking Pollard for you!

yeah you could get a very strong GBV record taking the best third of these 3 combined but that's not really what GBV is about at this point

Yeah, you're talking about the asshole who released an album called The Kids Eat It Up: The Best of Robert Pollard 2010-2011!

Tom D otm -- lots of good points in there. As a ship-jumper (I still haven't heard any of these new albums yet, I'll admit it!), I feel like it's my right to reclaim my listening for something other than Bob Pollard -- he's just the guy who needs the most attention I guess. I don't have a lot of patience for attention hogs!

STILL, he is the way he is and has always been. He's a cherished Ohioan who has been at this for a really long time and I will always love him for that.

Now tell me the truth - which one of these new album do I need to hear? I am going to start with one.

The newest of the three, The Bears for Lunch.

i havent listened to Bears yet but Class Clown has been worthwhile

like as long as you were into GBV deeper than bee thousand/alienlanes you'll find something to enjoy on these new records i think

Ok. I'm a serious old timer at this point, I'll give it a try!

I only listened to the first of the three new ones and wasn't into it. maybe I'll give Bears For Lunch a shot.

The first one is definitely the worst. Class Clown is my favorite so far, but still giving Bears For Lunch time to sink in.

I bought all GBV, and most side projects, through about 2006, but I've heard most everything since. I'm a big Pollard apologist. But... the only ones from the 2000s that I honestly keep going going back, not out of sheer obligation, are:

Keene Brothers
Moon
Go Back Snowball
Hold on Hope EP
Suitcase #1
Live at the Wheelchair Races
Crickets

Wow same list for me but I would add 'waving at astronauts' by lifeguards & 'let it beard' by Boston spaceships & 'new theory of everything' by mars classroom

Oh you said 2000s - my bad

i actually liked Normal Happiness a bunch, am i the only one?

No, I think Normal Happiness is great, lots of great pop moments on that record though it does tail off a bit on the second side...

I find that a lot of Bob's albums are major growers. Songs that feel kind of awkward at first turn out to be brilliant after a few listens. I had From A Compound Eye for a few years before I really got into it. Now I think it's one of the best things he ever put out...

I'm looking forward to his latest project Sunflower Logic. Songs recorded in his new home studio with his brother, Greg Demos, and another guy. Due out in February, And in January we get GBV's Down By The Racetrack EP!

going through the post-reunion albums right now on spotify - already 4 full-lengths and 1 EP - dudes are still crazy huh?

anyway...unfortunately for them Let's Go Eat the Factory, the one that got the most attention by virtue of being the "reunion album" -- so far at least -- seems to be BY FAR the worst...about halfway through The Bears For Lunch right now (third full length post reformation) and it's a damn good GBV album

gonna make a "best of reunited GBV" spotify mix i'll post

I keep meaning to make a "best of re-united GBV" playlist but haven't gotten around to it yet. I probably prefer the pre-split Stadium Rock Years to the super lo-fi stuff, so these may not be for me.

this band is getting so much more complicated than i ever would have imagined, and it was complicated to begin with

one thing that's also very evident - MAN it's good to have tobin sprout back in the band, his songs really help break up the albums in a nice way

I probably prefer the pre-split Stadium Rock Years to the super lo-fi stuff, so these may not be for me.

Of the new albums, I'd rank them thusly: 4 > 3 > 2 > 1

In fact, I don't rank Let's Go Eat the Factory at all. It's trash.

yeah only pulled a few off that one on this playlist

I don't rank Let's Go Eat the Factory at all. It's trash.

there's a live version of "god loves us" on youtube, from central park, that's kinda great, but the album version is kinda weird in a not so good way.

well, here's the results of my listening today, the highlights of guided by voices classic lineup 2.0!

http://open.spotify.com/user/matthelgeson/playlist/6pNdtcAVo6SVin1hcF594M

that's some serious public service. thanks! if you haven't yet you might want to check out bob's recent solo album, honey locust honky tonk , which is pretty top shelf

Agreed. Some not just good, but GREAT songs on HLHT.

mix is still 33 tracks but i'm sure that's down by 2/3rds or more

this band is getting so much more complicated than i ever would have imagined, and it was complicated to begin with

Haha. Go read our favorite Circle thread and read about Jussi's plan for Falcon (ex-Circle) and Circle (ex-Falcon), then let me know if GbV still feels complicated!

I probably prefer the pre-split Stadium Rock Years to the super lo-fi stuff, so these may not be for me.

― michaellambert, Tuesday, July 30, 2013 2:19 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you will like the title track from class clown spots a ufo which sounds almost like a song written during that era

Ironic as "Class Clown Spots A UFO" is just a re-recording of "Crocker's Favorite Song" a Bee Thousand era (earlier?) outtake... unless that's what you were trying to say.

ha i was thinking last night about putting together a best of of the reunion albums.. though matt's playlist will be hard to beat

nah honestly i don't know GBV trivia like that, just the real stompy handclapping thing reminded me more of an isolation drills era song

electricsound - you could totally make a shorter one like a real one album length greatest hits...this was more just me listening to them all and doing a thumbs up/thumbs down "i want to hear this song again" or not....it could be way better if i resequenced it i bet

I have all 4 reunion albums and like them in places but do find them a bit of a slog to listen to at times. I'd agree that there's been an improvement since '...Factory'. Listening to the last track on 'Bears', which i like.

I've not really dipped into the recent Pollard solo stuff.

I've not really dipped into the recent Pollard solo stuff.

As you might have guessed, there's a lot of it. And some of it isn't worth the effort. But for serious Honey Locust Honky Tonk is so soooo good.

down to a shortlist of 55, should come as no surprise that most of the easy culls were from factory

thanks so much for the playlist

this band is getting so much more complicated than i ever would have imagined, and it was complicated to begin with

Haha. Go read our favorite Circle thread and read about Jussi's plan for Falcon (ex-Circle) and Circle (ex-Falcon), then let me know if GbV still feels complicated!

― JACK SQUAT about these Charlie Nobodies (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, July 30, 2013 5:26 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

I have, and it's no consolation, I'm afraid.

this is the best i could do for a 20-track distillation of the 4 reunion albums. i had to leave off at least 5 songs that on a different day could have been on here

flunky minnows
class clown spots a ufo
everywhere is miles from everywhere
keep it in motion
the challenge is much more
you can fly anything right
king arthur the red
finger gang
the unsinkable fats domino
be impeccable
waving at airplanes
jon the croc
roll of the dice kick in the head
with glass in foot
skin to skin combat
no transmission
billy wire
hangover child
white flag
trashcan full of nails

hmmm apparently bears for lunch is my fave

you might as well tell us the other five

ok

xeno pariah, smoggy boy, chain to the moon, have a jug, chocolate boy

I'm sorry, that list has no Islands (She Talks to Rainbows) on it, so it's incomplete.

that was a late cut

Ironic as "Class Clown Spots A UFO" is just a re-recording of "Crocker's Favorite Song" a Bee Thousand era (earlier?) outtake... unless that's what you were trying to say.

Crocker's has always been one of my favourite GBV songs, ever since I got the first box set.

But I feel like I've heard so many songs by GBV now I honestly couldn't tell you with any confidence what my favourites were. You're right about Let's Go Eat The Factory, but Old Bones crushes me every time I hear it.

I played my old vinyl of Jellyfish Reflector yesterday morning, that's sublime GBV IMHO

I would have to include Imperial Racehorsing on any list of the best post-reunion stuff. Otherwise, that's a pretty good list!

Not sure if it's just because it was the 1st, but I've played _...Factory_ way more than the others.

I like Factory the best, and still play it moderately often. I was kind of surprised that most people seemed to prefer what came after.

This Spotify GBV playlist has made my week. Thanks!!!

also "waking up the stars" is insanely good

I really should be contributing to this thread revival but I never checked out the rest after being deflated by one listen to Factory when it came out. I'm a classic era super fan btw.

The new albums are like saying "here, you can have all this delicious ice cream in every flavor you can imagine, but first you have to eat this bowl of dogshit (i.e. Factory)!"

Yeah, I'll absolutely check out the others. That seems to be a majority opinion.

"Dropping the Bomb" on Suitcase 3 is freaking wonderful. Beautiful (!) harmonies. At a minute-and-a-half, I kinda wish it went on for another...minute.

i'm enjoying my playlist a lot right now because i'm just listening to it and i'm not worrying about if the song is "good enough" to make my playlist

officially...over

imagine this might be it for good

hell of a rock band

Yeah but what could've happened?! So weird to cancel/quit without fanfare.

i assume one of these guys will spill the beans soon enough

Almost every news article about this includes "for real" in the breakup announcement. I'm pretty sure every GBV breakup has been for real. They've just regrouped after a time.

they have long struck me as the kind of band who probably break up, in a not for real way, after pretty much every show.

drinky drinky motion

Saw the New Haven show a few months back. The band was great but after it was over I couldn't help thinking to myself that it would be very very hard to sustain that much inebriation night after night. Bob was quite wasted at the halfway point of the show and nearly incoherent after it was done. My guess is that the band got tired of it or that someone is in rehab...

As far as I know he has performed shows similarly to that for well over a decade now, hard to believe it's just now hit the breaking point.

could be a repeat of the kevin fennell thing only this time pollard didn't wanna bother amending the "classic" line-up any further

I'm awaiting the announcement of a regouping with the Cobra Verde lineup.

Cool Planet was my second favorite of the reunion albums so its a shame they break up now. Time to call up Tommy Keene.

I remember thinking a Keene/Pollard collaboration would work nicely and then I learned it already existed.

I remember getting a coupla of rekkids signed by him, along with the Jim Greer book as the two were going to book stores to promote it a few years back. I asked him, "so what have you been diggin' music-wise lately," and he quickly said, "the Moles." I was not at all surprised when he did the postal service band, "Cosmos," with Richard Davies literally two months later.
He's just an amazing, fun, modern psych/rock songwriter, and I'm sure we'll get a smattering of quality product that badly needs an editor for years to come. When I saw 'em at some street fair in Chicago this summer, I really thought it was Demos and March holding the whole thing together. Toby just looked super-pissed off, and Mitch kinda phoned it in on the songs he didn't obviously dig. Bobby was Bobby. It was a good run, and it truthfully felt over after the final show in '05. Of the 6 (!) Classic lineup rekkids, I only really liked 'Bears,' 'League,' and, 'Planet.' They coulda seriously done just one good double LP, and that woulda had a big inner groove. I always thought Fennel was a slow drummer, and was kinda glad they booted him after the drum set farce.

i had forgotten about that!
honestly i am glad this reunion is over. the gimmick of gbv was honestly starting to make me like them less and i don't want to like them less.
i hope everyone's health is ok.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Cl-grAJlt8#t=165

"Asked for a more detailed reason why the group is disbanding, Mr. Pollard responded through his manager in an email.
“I feel we’ve done some great work with these albums,” he wrote, “it wasn’t just a reunion to cash in. But it’s gone as far as it was going to go and to go beyond this point, to any degree or any length would be just going through the motions. It’s time to wrap it up with this particular entity.”

hmm
sounds like something else happened but ok

He's way more wasted there than any of the three times I've seen them play.

maybe they gave him an ultimatum about excessive drinking and/or recording

lol. I for one welcome this breakup since it will give me a much needed chance to catch up on their recorded oeuvre subsequent to Earthquake Glue.

i've seen pollard plastered beyond the possibilities of mathematics numerous times, but that stone pony footage is pretty fucking depressing.

i can't even watch it

ugh that is fucking horrible

Wow I thought that Replacements reunion clip was bad...

But yeah looks like he's moved on from slugging Budweiser to Jack Daniels which packs a little different punch.

Ha, I was just thinking Bob P should join up with Tommy and Paul in some kind of bizarre supergroup.

?? The Replacements were pretty pro the other night

Actually wish I were going to see the 'Mats tonight but I am under the weather.

What clips I saw/heard of the big Replacements show in St. Paul last week were pretty great. Was reminded of when Fogerty started playing CCR songs again.

stone pony footage reminds me that i saw them plenty in 90s and 00s, and don't need to be bummed that they never came to the uk in this incarnation, because that is some awful garbage.

The albums weren't very good either

Looks like it's tequila he's swigging from. Fuck's sake. When did he switch to that from beer?

Last time I saw GBV play in London - must have been 2003? - he was swigging from a JD bottle

xp i liked a couple of them, and the others had good moments, which is pretty much how i felt about all gbv post-earthquake drills

he did seem to gt extra drunk in london. he never got that nasty wasted tho.

Tequila since at least 2010. He passed it around during the Maxwell's show.

sooooooooo saaaaaaaaad
what has become of this supercreative person?!

which is pretty much how i felt about all gbv post-earthquake drills

They did an outdoor show in St Paul at a street fest about 10yrs ago before another hiatus, this was last gasp of the Billiard lineup, pretty bad, that one younger bass player dude who drove the pickup truck in that one gbv video kept asking for coke onstage

haha okay the drills album, the divorce album with chasing heather crazy xp

Just to point out, the 1st 90 mins of that Stone Pony show were pretty great, as were the 5 or so reunion shows I saw. Band seemed to be drinking a lot less at them than 1st time around. Still quite a bit, but a lot less.

On stage Tobin always looked like someone's dad filling in on guitar, daydreaming about golf while all the other guys get blasted and act like rock stars throughout the show.

None of them have released a couple of albums in the last few days? This is disturbing.

Are they all ok post recent, erm, breakdown?

T'interweb is very GBV silent post Sept18

There have been new Circus Devils and Teenage Guitar records, and there is something called Ricked Wicky coming out some time soon.

they're back together
http://pitchfork.com/news/57229-robert-pollard-tobin-sprout-play-set-at-guided-by-voices-tribute-show/

So, I'm guessing Mitch Mitchell wasn't there?

yeah that at least nullifies a few theories

As an out the loop Limey, I was suspecting rehab, after watching the above footage

Thread derailer , but there's a mention above - I'm guessing that Westerberg remains off the sauce?

Sooooooo.... Guess who's reunited again?

Kevin Fennell back in the band then?

only one who's previously been in GBV is Kevin March, right?

finally catching up on the rest of the reunion albums, they're definitely working on a lower average quality level than anything propellor thru half-smiles but its still kinda fun to scavenger hunt for the occasional jam e.g. 'males of wormwood mars'

English Little League is the only one of the new ones that was really a keeper, imo. Good songs scattered around on the other ones.

The new one is wretched.

yeah that's the one i've listened to most too. Class Clown Spots a UFO was also decent

being part of a present-day gbv crowd might have finally cured me of sometimes complaining that people at shows are all 10-15 years younger than me and occasionally call me ma'am. dudes my age and older who only go out twice a year cannot handle themselves.

Lol

Are you sure that's not the band you're talking about rather than the crowd?

ya know, maybe it's b/c i read the replacements bio fairly recently, but the extent to which pollard's drunkenness is part of the appeal for a lot of the crowd did bum me out a little. i know he claims in interviews to not really have a drinking problem, but...

and i'm not sure i can think of anyone so committed to wearing out the audience except maybe the feelies.

GBV headlining the free Village Voice summer show in lower Manhattan tom'w

and the Feelies are playing in Central Park in about 10 days

deathless geezers

i know he claims in interviews to not really have a drinking problem, but...

It seems to have escalated in recent years.

He's certainly written enough songs about drinking.

Just to save anyone the trouble: He's certainly written enough songs about drinking.

dudes my age and older who only go out twice a year cannot handle themselves.
totally otm

this is part of what has made me not care about seeing this band ever again :(

Love them, saw them twice pre-breakup and I think I'm good.

(Xpost)
This is why I restrict, with very rare exceptions, my current live music outings to jazz in its many forms and opera in which venues, among other niceties, the audience has learned to cover up its moontan with long sleeves instead of highlighting it with black rock T-shirts. Of course when streaming into headphones, it's a completely different story, the same old National Hits Day.

Are you sure that's not the band you're talking about rather than the crowd?

Jazz club audiences tend to talk too much, maybe too exhilarated by the music, like one drink drunks---or just because that's what they always do in clubs. I've heard famous musos puzzle over this, considering how much the yakkers have to pay to get in, sometimes. Maybe this has changed with cell phones? More about taking pix and trying to capture the whole thing on audio-video, and texting friends about the fabulous show happening right now? I dunno; the talking got me out of the clubs.
Anyway, I liked Pollard's Of Course You Are better than latest (?) GBV. Sent the avclub stream link to a friend who hadn't heard him or them, with my comment: def for fans of Robyn Hitchcock, early 70s Nilsson---first tracks sound like it's gonna be all hard rock, but much more variety overall, kinda psych-pop. He liked it.

was jamming "Everyone Thinks I'm A Raincloud" this morning and it's such a good song, one of the few post-90s ones that would be in play for a POX for me

on the other hand, i've finally listened to all the reunion albums and they're mostly half-baked and depressing, i kinda wish they had been released under a sideproject name - the hit rate is even lower than a lot of solo pollard

Jazz club audiences tend to talk too much,
Really haven't experienced this very often

i go to all sorts of shows and generally refuse to be intimidated by any audience even if i am by myself, but i can't say that about a gbv show. it will be full of 2x/yr partiers who are trying to cram 6 months of drinking into four hours. that's the audience i expect at a current day gbv show and therefore no can do

ya know, maybe it's b/c i read the replacements bio fairly recently, but the extent to which pollard's drunkenness is part of the appeal for a lot of the crowd did bum me out a little. i know he claims in interviews to not really have a drinking problem, but...

there was never a time, not even in their earliest years, when the extent of pollard's drunkenness wasn't completely depressing. it's generally fun for the first 2 or 3 beers, and completely not fun for the next 20 or 30. and those 2 or 3 beers take maybe 2 or 3 songs to consume. and they're short songs.

disclosure: i haven't seen 'em in a long time, so maybe things have changed, but based on the above posts, i'm assuming they've gotten worse, not better, which is all but unfathomable to me. sigh.

Don't most GBV shows go off without major hitch or embarrassment? Amazingly, I've never seen 'em but I'm planning on it in August.

btw I'm totally a 2x/year guy but I just don't drink heavy anymore, ever

grain of salt since i haven't seen them live in forever but i kind of admire pollard's self-destructiveness the way i do keef's

I don't. I think it's depressing.

yeah shit's not good. irl consequences.

The last time I saw them was the ass end of the Doug Hillard era and it was some sad shit, bass player also borrowed my friend's rig (his band opened and somehow GBV didn't bring a bass rig?) and turned the head up way too high and blew his cab, they literally asked the crowd if anyone had coke

Doug was the only one who was in any shape to play

Keef, like Iggy, had (maybe they've had to mellow eventually) that Iron Man Constitution which was fascinating especially since if you did anything near what they did yourself at home you would probably die or end up like, say, Roky Erickson. They weren't quite human, at least in their heyday and maybe still, which allows one to enjoy the spectacle whilst avoiding certain thoughts, whereas Bob Pollard's case is depressing to contemplate because it is a picture of exactly what would happen to you, like looking into an unpleasantly illuminated bathroom mirror: This is Your Gut on Beer.

Swimming river flow
Rifle, bullet, arrow & bow
Plaster, paint & tile
Lepus, canine, cat & reptile

"deflect/project"

have been listening to lots of gbv the past two weeks for the first time in quite awhile, p much sticking to the fertile fields of the propellor through earthquake glue zone, nothing new to say except that yes he really was astonishingly plugged into something for a good long while and yes the drinking is just incredibly uncute and man on the prime trilogy of propellor-b1000-AL that peculiar collage-maker's genius for sequencing a record was one of his very strongest assets

also the guitar playing on i am a tree still makes me laugh out loud (i mean that in a good way)-- d gillard is always welcome on my block for that

The experimental collage effect the music and album art had together as complete packages with their early 90s material was so much more thematically interesting than the later period narrow focus on sounding like The Who as much as possible. I do find some of the later period stuff fun though.

gillard is just so good at that ultra crunch cheap trick who thing that his bravura carries me through a lot of the mk II era albums, also the songs are still frequently great on those

I know their early albums are best but I like the later stuff I've picked up too (I'm by no means a completist for obvious reasons...) August by Cake is surprisingly solid.

sticking to the fertile fields of the propellor through earthquake glue zone

i'm honestly not sure where one album title ends and the other begins here

Lol

I really don't like Gillard's guitar playing tbh.

Agree. Dude's playing is particularly lifeless and rote.

yeah but at least he is not a girl
lol

Yeah, there is quite a bit of this subject on this thread too. I saw them like quite a few times including when they first was starting to tour when Pollard was still teaching. Being from Dayton, playing in Bloomington and Indianapolis was one of their main places to regularly gig. The first few times were fun as heck, but the last time I saw them, which was after the old touring band was gone and probably their biggest show in like 1999 was kinda sad. Have not seen them live or listened to any of their newer albums much since.

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

I wonder if Pollard has another gear to shift to; the dude is sixty... is he going to keep being a stooge or is their something more reflective on the horizon?

Even if there is something more reflective coming down the pike what are the chances it actually gets noticed in his endless barrage of releases?

He's done reflective before but, as you say, it was hard to spot among the torrent, too much hard work anyway.

lol matos really Kool aid mans into that thread with some hot takes

"Kool aid mans" is my new favorite verb

Totally! I implore y'all to know what I mean next time I type KAM

I'mma kool aid man into a random bar thread this weekend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8F4UahIVV8

That's wonderful

wrt to new GBV, I've kinda decided it's not worth the effort to keep up. feel like there's a lot of stuff i want to listen to and if I'm in the mood for GBV I'd rather just pull out Propeller or Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, etc...

When they first reunited, I made this playlist taking the first five new albums and grabbing the tracks I thought were good into one playlist. it's not bad i think....I listened to a bit of the new one sounded pretty boring...

https://open.spotify.com/user/matthelgeson/playlist/6pNdtcAVo6SVin1hcF594M

Is the GBV song database website still around ? I remember even by 2000 or so the volume of content was massive.

Www.gbvdb.com

Don't know how up to date it is, but it's got 2600 songs overall now.

my favourite GBV of the new era was a Toby song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BmnM6wwyhU

my favorite GBV of the old era are mostly Toby songs

A sparkled shiny diner is a home for wayward minor

I thought August by Cake was pretty good - certainly an improvement over the one before it. And I guess there's already another new one on the way.

whenever bob settles into uncle zim triplicate mode it will be fierce. wonder who he'd cover

Pollard hasn't really written 2,600 songs - he's started writing 2,600 songs and only actually finished a fraction of 'em.

OTM, so many of them are lacking a middle eight!!!

Funny this came up but I've been trying to listen to some of those Pollard solo albums where Todd Tobias plays all the instruments and Bob just sings (sometimes in tune) over the top of them, Jesus but a lot of that stuff is just godawful.

Circus Devils is definitely the band I've listened to the most records by that I don't like at all.

And I think August by Cake is just OK but the Mark Shue-penned songs are really good!

Lexo -- Myst King urth

August By Cake was just baffling to me. Like, listening to it I honestly couldn't believe that this was once my favourite band.

Thread revive coincided with me revisiting Propeller for the first time in a while - it's such a great album but you can easily imagine a world where Pollard really does give up on music afterwards, then 20 years later the album gets rediscovered as a lost classic and reissued by Captured Tracks or someone. Also I love how it works as a bridge between the often reasonably professional '80s records and the full-on lo-fi era.

this song isn't bad at all ~

https://www.stereogum.com/1974787/guided-by-voices-space-gun/music/

if there is ever a revival of appreciation for bob pollard someday i will enjoy the hell out of it

new album is best since before the reunion imo

Sounds like same old same old to me tbh.

Reggie what do you mean? You will enjoy it more if other people start enjoying it?

Bob is classic all-time, could GAF about "revival"

Sounds like same old same old to me tbh.

i will enjoy the eventual revival, hadrian -- the 'bob pollard rules' thread that ramifies props for the human jukebox of dayton OH

Space Gun is sounding really good - not just the songs but the production, too. And I haven't particularly cared for the other reunion records I've heard.

Having obsessively listened to almost every minute of music they recorded prior to their initial breakup, I should probably get around to hearing to at least one or more minutes of the material they've recorded since then.

I only noticed this new one because "That's Good" was on my Release Radar playlist this week and I noticed it had actual production and melody and stuff (and strings!)

big fan of "ark technician"

"ark technician"

glad to know pollard's GBV Song Title Generator is still intact

I should probably get around to hearing to at least one or more minutes of the material they've recorded since then.

If you are stretched for time, I'd jump straight to How Do You Spell Heaven and the new one, both are so good and better than any of the other "reunion" albums to my ears. This current band is such a good fit for the songs he's writing now.

/"ark technician"/

glad to know pollard's GBV Song Title Generator is still intact

is "overloaded" his best individual song since the reformation? it's the only one I've found that would be a highlight on the classic records

ah, it's written by Kevin March apparently, not Pollard

Love "Overloaded," which temporarily got me checking out the newer GbV records (which, unfortunately, I've mostly found to be a slog). Didn't know it wasn't a Pollard composition.

Hold on, so the best song is written by the drummer? Yeahhhhhh, think I'll pass guys.

there's some good pollard ones but they're much sparser than the original run

My favorite post-reunion Bob songs:

Imperial Racehorsing
Billy Wire
Jon the Croc
Mobility (this one is actually a Ricked Wicky song but it's great so I need to mention it)

I think overall I've just completely lost the patience required to absorb all of his stuff. I'm sure there's more good stuff on these records but it's been buried much deeper in shit lately.

He has also given us this which on the one hand is pretty funny but on the other hand is a live document of Bob surrounded by his weird army of sycophants so...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olTGp89WF0k

oh "she hides in black" is another good one but i think it's on a solo pollard

maybe someday i'll have the patience do a full survey of this stuff, i'm sure there's a dozen earworms i'm missing

Space Gun is sounding really good - not just the songs but the production, too. And I haven't particularly cared for the other reunion records I've heard.

― Simon H., Friday, March 23, 2018 7:23 AM (three months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is really good! def digging it more than anything i've heard in years

Also...Bobby Bare Jr is this band now?? weird

Zeppelin Over China is sounding great - got my Rockathon package this weekend, this fine record along with latest 'Eat' collage book. I'm a fan anyways, but what stands out every release in the last five years or so, is that for a band that did it on the cheap, and recorded lo-fi masterpieces once a upon a time, their records now sound GREAT. Drums/cymbals and guitar tone sound great. The bass lines are pronounced and not muddy like the old days. Super entertaining double LP here - way better than their last attempt at a double LP. Looking forward to 'Rise of the Ants' later this year.

He has also given us this which on the one hand is pretty funny but on the other hand is a live document of Bob surrounded by his weird army of sycophants so...
📹

Third album of 2019 out today.

add to that the Cash Rivers release from this year. new one has sort of a Gabriel-era Genesis feel. how the hell does he do it?

... why the hell does he do it more like it.

This new one is quite good, more muscular than usual, about on par with Space Gun. I'm toying with the idea of trying to put together a Human Amusements II from the reunion records but it's like 9 hours of music already to whittle down, which is exhausting.

Another new album today. I’m about halfway though but so far it might be his most consistent, at least compared to the albums he released last year. This might be my favorite of his latest run of albums.

I'm toying with the idea of trying to put together a Human Amusements II from the reunion records but it's like 9 hours of music already to whittle down, which is exhausting.

I started doing this and made some progress, but now I already have a whole other album to add and I'm not sure if my listening can possibly keep up with his songwriting.

Another new album today. I’m about halfway though but so far it might be his most consistent, at least compared to the albums he released last year. This might be my favorite of his latest run of albums.

People say this (more or less) every time he releases an album. It's like, "Remember when I said his last album was a return to form? Well, it wasn't after all, but this one is. Honest".

Ha I don’t think it’s a return to form, I just like it more. Generally speaking I’m not a fan of the pace of his output. Hard to keep up and if I’m being honest, it causes me to devalue the albums, like the songs are tissues pulled from a box and cast aside.

the new one is really great, and I haven't felt like saying that about any of the post-reunion albums. his focus is tight, his hit-rate is high.

maybe it's just cause he's putting out more "proper" LPs under the same name, but it feels like his output is even more accelerated than in the old days

I'm toying with the idea of trying to put together a Human Amusements II from the reunion records but it's like 9 hours of music already to whittle down, which is exhausting.

I started doing this and made some progress, but now I already have a whole other album to add and I'm not sure if my listening can possibly keep up with his songwriting.

― bold caucasian eroticism (Simon H.), Friday, February 21, 2020 10:12 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

lol I am pertually in this place

"steely dodger" rules

Just out of curiosity: has his post-breakup output exceeded his pre-breakup output yet?

like the songs are tissues pulled from a box and cast aside

gbv in a nutshell

the new one is really great, and I haven't felt like saying that about any of the post-reunion albums. his focus is tight, his hit-rate is high.

Yup -- there are some fantastic songs scattered throughout the previous albums by this iteration of the band, and Space Gun was a high-water mark in particular, but even that was fairly spotty compared to Surrender Your Poppy Field. This probably won't sound like high praise to everybody, but I think this is the most I've enjoyed a GBV album since Earthquake Glue. Tons of cool little touches on this one, and there's kind of a theatricality that I feel like sets it apart from maybe any other GBV album.

This probably won't sound like high praise to everybody, but I think this is the most I've enjoyed a GBV album since Earthquake Glue.
This probably won't sound like high praise to everybody, but I think this is the most I've enjoyed a GBV album since Earthquake Glue.
This probably won't sound like high praise to everybody, but I think this is the most I've enjoyed a GBV album since Earthquake Glue.

Just out of curiosity: has his post-breakup output exceeded his pre-breakup output yet?

― Hot, Now, and Oh-So-Very Wow! (Old Lunch), Friday, February 21, 2020 12:52 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

i think we still need 2 more LPs to match it on album count. if we're talking pollard and not gbv then it exceeded it ages ago via side projects and solo records

Started giving it a listen but right away don’t like the production that much. It’s like those Black Sabbath records when you can’t hear Geezer’s finger noises anymore.

Is the Acid Ranch stuff worth listening to?

Even for a catalog of his size I feel like there are a disproportionate number of songs with the word "Arthur" in the title.

xp I bought Some of the Magic Syrup Was Preserved because it happened to be released at the peak of my "buy everything with Bob's name on it" phase and I would generously describe it as inessential.

like the coolest thing about it is it has the song he lifted the spoken part from the end of "Alright" from.

agreed inessential but it when it comes up on shuffle I always dig it

The Who vs Porky the Pig
If we’re talking essential inessential

this one feels like a 00s pollard solo album to me in style and quality, still not as good as the 00s gbv records but fine

I'm toying with the idea of trying to put together a Human Amusements II from the reunion records but it's like 9 hours of music already to whittle down, which is exhausting.

Decided to give this a shot. I realized Half Smiles of the Decomposed actually came out after the Human Amusements comp, and with that album as fair game for a best-of volume 2, there's actually a nice bit of symmetry right now, because each volume would cover a 16-year span during which 15 GBV albums were released, by my count. So figured I'd try to do this before the next one comes out.

I never really got into the classic lineup reunion albums, other than maybe Motivational Jumpsuit, but I've got at least one track from each of them on here. Though you might be disappointed if you prefer that era to the current one.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1idxGsnYtzSHZY2ipxQSdP

cool thanks!

Oh wow, that's impressive. I'd have made room for "Sport Component National" but I can't complain as I've only made like 10% progress towards eliminating material in general.

vampire on titus getting a reissue for RSD

"Imperial Racehorsing" is my #1 essential track from the classic lineup reunion era.

pretty sure "overloaded" is my OPO from '10s gbv. dunno what my pick would be when restricted to pollard songs

I'd have made room for "Sport Component National" but I can't complain as I've only made like 10% progress towards eliminating material in general.

Love that song! Ended up cutting it in favor of more of what I thought of as crowd-pleasers. (I wanted to keep the running time more or less the same as Human Amusements.)

"See My Field" is my OPO from the last decade.

I've been working from home all week so I've listened to the new one a bunch. It's pretty good! I haven't heard anything since Space Gun, considering doing some back tracking now.

Still think August by Cake is the best I've heard from this lineup, but mainly because he let the other guys contribute (which unfortunately gave us "High Five Hall of Famers", but "Overloaded" and "Sudden Fiction" are so good it doesn't matter).

"Volcano", "Arthur Has Business Elsewhere" and "Steely Dodger" are the big keepers from this one for me. Also "Whoa Nelly" is pretty cool.

OK, time to go back and listen to these three fucking records from 2019 that I skipped.

Do you think Bob re-programs that same beat on his drum machine every time or does he have it saved

I want to train a neural network on Bob song titles but exclude "Your Cricket Is Rather Unique" and take bets on how long it takes the neural network to come up with "Your Cricket Is Rather Unique".

"Tiger on Top" is pretty fun! Otherwise Sweating the Plague feels like he's on autopilot so far.

Guitar player in my old band used to lighten the mood by launching into fake Pollard songs: “This one’s called Canadian Toothbrush Girls!” “This one’s called Umbrellas Go Viral!”

There are a lot of fake Pollard songs on this one.

His songwriting would be a lot more interesting to me at this point if he veered off of the rock music highway even periodically. I feel like he is very conservative in this way -- esp w choice of collaborators etc. Someone with as much energy as he has could be writing more ambitious music.

But isn’t the lack of ambition sort of his thing?

Not that I was aware of? Back in the 80s he probably dreamed of this day if I’m to believe the stuff I’ve read. Now we are here.

I think his major ambition was to make a rock record that sounded like FM stuff he listened to growing up.

he did try that once or twice

pretty sure "overloaded" is my OPO from '10s gbv. dunno what my pick would be when restricted to pollard songs
― ciderpress, Wednesday, March 4, 2020 1:59 PM (one week ago)

Same, I'd say this is the best GBV song 2010-2019.

My 2nd favorite is "Hang Up and Try Again." Class Clown Spots a UFO is probably the least-spotty LP from start to finish.

I don't know, I don't really want him to show more ambition. Restraint, on the other hand...

But obviously from his standpoint it's more a question of reputation vs. steady income so ::shrug::

So now that I've backtracked to Sweating the Plague and Warp and Woof and found them both rather meh, I'm that much more impressed with Surrender Your Poppy Field. Looking at the tracklisting of Zeppelin Over China and thinking maybe I'll hold off before diving into that thing.

I might need to give Space Gun a few more spins since everyone seemed to like it way more than I did, new one has definitely passed August by Cake in my personal rankings though. Will also add "Physician" to the list of essential tracks, that was a big grower for me.

I shudder to think how many new songs there will be in the next six months

Alien Lanes getting vinyl reissue in the summer. It's 25 years old. I am so so old now.

we are sweating the plague while doing isolation drills

half smiles of the decomposed under the bushes, under the stars

There's a terrible action movie playing on the background on television at the moment and, every so often, I glance over at it to see Robert Pollard in it - except it's Tom Berenger and, if anything, Pollard looks even more like him now they're both ruddy faced, bloated and silver haired.

Pollard looks much less bloated for 62 than I ever would have thought, actually.

I've been taking advantage of the lockdown to go through all of these records and give add'l listens to *all* the Fading Captain stuff and "side" stuff, solo records etc. gumming up my hard drive. Decades of getting numbed to the glut has really made me take this catalog for granted. It's pretty mindblowing, chaff be damned.

One thing that w/ time and a wider lens really jumps out: the current version of this band is fucking great, and every one of their now seven records save for maybe Sweating The Plague is better than every one of the seven preceding "reunion" records. You can hear how these guys respond Bob and encourage subtler and more dynamic writing on his part. And this last one is maybe the best of those, too?

Haha, I'm doing a similar chronological trip through Pollard's catalog. Up to Half Smiles of the Decomposed right this minute, which is a lot better than I'd remembered and has a killer first side.

I had the same experience w/ that one...I found it totally unremarkable on release but there's a bunch of good stuff there

Is that so? Good to hear. I've only ever really been focused on the "classic" lineup and earlier because back then Bob (with Tobin) was so interested in experimenting... after that era is was just Bob striving to be the indie The Who. Every song became another mid-tempo big chord rocker... therefore only a few albums here and there stood out but all of it is so complacent in that formula. Even if done well it blends together. The experiments of the old days were like these little audio sketches and Bob's collages complimented them well in that regard; like these tiny little surreal worlds cut and paste together. And all the "throwaways" were at the very least palette cleansers and/or functioned as interludes to the bigger moments. Albums were like journeys through backroads where you see a lot of weird things pass by quickly and frequently, later albums just felt like taking the highway- a lot of the same with steady momentum.

My copy of that new Zeppelin Over Dayton album-by-album book is supposed to arrive tomorrow, and I just finally finished Closer You Are - so it's gonna be a Pollard summer around these parts.

I have that in the mail, too.... Evan, there's been a lot more shorter/out stuff on the recent records

after that era is was just Bob striving to be the indie The Who. Every song became another mid-tempo big chord rocker...

I'm actually looking forward to my revisit through the years between GbV. I'd almost forgotten just how many interesting projects he tossed off in that inter-zone - Keene Brothers with Tommy Keene, Mars Classroom with Gary Waleik from Big Dipper and Cosmos with Richard Davies. This was also the era when he started my very favorite side project band, Boston Spaceships.

Fair! To clarify that was just my impression having not checked out every album beyond 1997. However I really like Earthquake Glue!

xp

https://i.imgur.com/wu1uRKB.jpg

NIGHTMARE ON NEEDMORE

If anyone here is curious abt the more marginal/dark/lysergic stuff (or just interested in a distillation) I made this noise/psych/folk tape collage/soundscape incl. Acid Ranch, Circus Devils, Nightwalker, Howling Wolf Orchestra, Antler, Sunflower Logic, Teenage Guitar etc

It's loooong but good for dropping in anywhere in the middle, more of a damaged radio station... hmu!

GBV lol:
my partner tried to cheer me up by getting me that t-shirt from the time bob was in the paper for his no-hitter. unfortunately, it didn't come in any ladies' sizes or even a "small"

totally predictable SAD TROMBONE

i like that album w the Keene bros -- there's one song in particular that I LOOVED...can't remember what it's called...

I thought about ordering that t-shirt, but jeez talk about not so subtly reinforcing the idea that GBV is only beloved by dudes.

"Death of the Party"!!!

She drives like an exodus
Slow to the steeple
And her touch is sad
The cold room is clean
And it's distant from people
But the bugs are bad
<3 <3 <3

the melody is so poignant + i like the lyrics a lot, they feel very classic bob to me

Oh yeah, that is a great one!

Could go for a Spotify playlist of the best bits of the side projects!

yes plz

Once I work my way through, maybe I'll try and throw one together!

these Boston Spaceships songs belong on there: Let it Rest for a Little While, Bad Whiskey, Christmas Girl

oh and The Naked Wall and Island of Lost Lucys from that Keene Brothers album, those too

One of the fun things about working my way back through all of these is picking up things like Bob having had the title for Zeppelin Over China as far back as "Thelonious Has Eaten All the Paper" back on the Circus Devils record from 2005.

Also...Bobby Bare Jr is this band now?? weird

― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, July 10, 2018 4:08 PM (one year ago)

Haha, yeah, he joined in 2016 after the "classic lineup" split up again.

Could go for a Spotify playlist of the best bits of the side projects!

ha, so I did that too

https://i.imgur.com/fdOXLdr.jpg

MILES OF CONCENTRATION

Again, this one's super-long but zero filler—111 tracks drawn from 52 records. Obviouslt not to be listened to in one sitting, again more like a radio station. The longer tracks are edited down so it flows more like an early GBV album...all segued and w/ some light EQing here and there

This covers non-GBV recordings since 2001... the solo records + Boston Spaceships / Carbon Whales / Keene Brothers / Cosmos / ESP Ohio / Airport 5 / Freedom Cruise / Lifeguards / Psycho and The BIrds / Mars Classroom / Phantom Tollbooth / The Takeovers etc... DM me if you'd like

Nice! Those both sound absolutely killer.

Thank you!!!

I remember listening to a Tommy Keene track off of The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down... I think it was the epic "The Final Hour" song and thinking how cool it would be if Pollard collaborated with him... THEN found out they already had? It blew my mind a little.

DM'd you Hadrian! My big Pollard blind spot is pretty much the 10-year period after the 2004 breakup, and the idea of going back to see what I missed has been intimidating, so this playlist sounds like exactly what I need.

Anyone else doing the Hot Freaks subscription service? I signed up a couple days ago and I've been catching up on the stuff that was sent out over the past several weeks. Most interesting thing for me so far has been the Do the Collapse demos. 20+ tracks of Doug working out his lead parts over Bob's acoustic demos, occasionally adding full-band arrangements. Hearing the songs stripped down like this makes me feel like Bob was really at a high point in terms of pure pop songwriting around this time. Just lovely, interesting chord progression and melodies all over the place. Apparently Ocasek made the call to drop some of this stuff and Bob came up with a few proggier things ("Liquid Indian," etc.) at his request. Most of the scrapped tracks ended up on the Hold On Hope EP (which is fantastic).

On top of that, Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department came out a few months after DtC, with some of the best pop songs Pollard's ever written. I don't know how "Pop Zeus" hasn't remained a live staple since those days.

I'm tempted but yikes at $100...and just as I'm finally getting my arms around these 2,500 or whatever songs

I shld add that above "side project" mix^ has a smattering of reunion-era GBV, only cuz on review I didn't feel those records merited their own mix, but whatever it's all Bob

Speak Kindly is easily ni my top 5 gbv/gbv-related LPs.

the Freedom Cruise project is just one song or is it more?

I've been following that Hot Freaks service with some interest, but honestly I have a hard time dropping a hundred bucks all at once. I wish there was a monthly billing option or something, that would probable be easier to swallow.

Freedom Cruise actually released two songs - "Cruise" on the Freedom Cruise/Nightwatchers split and another once called "Sensational Gravity Boy". originally on one of those Red, Hot + Bothered comps but a slightly different version was on that 2xCD Crickets comp.

Pop Zeus is truly great -- longtime fave in my house

Esp the inscrutable lyrics,

Pop Zeus, electric noose
paper boy

or Pop Zeus, electric newspaper boy?!

although i hope it's the latter bc i don't like white ppl singing about nooses tbh

It's the latter.

Periodically I try getting to grip with his post-GBV career but it's a hard slog!

is there a link to that playlist you can share Hadrian, or am I just being stupid and not seeing it?

I can send you a link to download if you dm me—it's an actual mix, not a playlist

— last of the Spotify holdouts

got it, message sent with thanks!

Pop Zeus, electric noose
paper boy

or Pop Zeus, electric newspaper boy?!

the latter. it's a reference to rich turiel (i think?) who started postal blowfish, the email mailing list for GBV fans, which bob referred to as his "electric newspaper"

it's definitely a ref to the founder of PB, i'm just not 100% that was rich (tho I think it was)

Rich didn't start Postal Blowfish. He was among the early members (as was I) before he met the band and became their tour manager, etc. That newspaper boy reference is to Ed someone who was a friend of Bob who would print off reviews and other gbv related web content (maybe PB too, I don't know) and bring it to Bob on paper, because Bob didn't have a computer.

^^^ Yeah, this gets mentioned in Closer You Are, though I don't have it at hand to confirm further. But yeah, someone would print reviews of the internet and hand them to Bob to read.

That's it, Ed! It's been well over a decade since I was a PBer, tbh. I'm pretty sure ED would print off the PB digest for Bob.

lol
i know i have had this convo about Pop Zeus before too

He was among the early members (as was I)

raising my hands for the early postal blowfish roll call. the day i sent my first email to the group, maybe the day after, two total strangers who lived near me in brooklyn emailed me to invite me on a road trip to see gbv in philly, and i thought to myself "i'm not getting in a fucking car with two total strangers just because we like the same band. what if they kidnap me? or murder me? what if they make me drink warm beer and listen to nightwalker songs the whole way down?" it was matt & jon, the brothers who started spare me records, totally awesome dudes as i later learned, but i didn't know that yet. i passed on that particular road trip.

Ha, I did roadtrip early on with Matt and Jon, from nyc to Dayton...w/o having met them before except on PB. Their sister came too I think?

Got the whole tour and stayed at Don Thrasher's place.... we caravaned to a show at Southgate House in KY and then with the band to some greasy spoon afterward, a trip highlight for me as I prompted Bob to change the song Melted Pat to Patty Melt, and he obliged with a couple verses

I remember listening to The Shoes all the way back, and also Bob finishing Jim's fries and singing "cold fries for robot boy" as he did so

ha ha ha awesome.

later postal blowfish memories include michael azerrad starting a long, combative thread in which he argued, repeatedly and repetitively, that gbv's lo-fi recording aesthetic was a good thing because the lo-fi aesthetic was an essential part of their sound whereas pavement's lo-fi recording aesthetic was a bad thing because the lo-fi aesthetic was not an essential part of their sound and in fact detracted from one's ability to enjoy the music and therefore was not only bad, but evil, because music is an essential part of our lives and music can actually save our lives, like medicine, and anything that gets in the way of that, like an unessential lo-fi recording aesthetic, should be considered a crime. or something like that. this was before twitter was invented and, therefore, before the block button was invented, unfortunately.

I for one am grateful that some of my worst opinions predated the Constant Record

oh god me too

my PB memories are mostly the kleenex girl wonder dude trolling people

i love reading these memories, feel like the only band i was ever so fanatical about during their nascent years went on to do things that don't impress me much, so it feels very embarrassing.

Azzerad was on PB??

Azzerad was on PB??

indeed he was, for a short time in the early days.

Oone thing that kind of bothers me about Pavement's "lo-fi" distinction is that they recorded everything up to Crooked Rain at Gary Young's original studio that had a 24-track MCI console which if you are familiar with is approximately the size (132"x41"x38") of ~200 Tascam 424s (18"x14"x4") such as the ones actually used by GBV, Sebadoh, Silver Jews, et.al. Slanted & Enchanted is extremely hi-fi compared to Alistair Galbraith or The Grifters music from the same period.

I've come to the conclusion that Sgt. Disco might be one of the most underrated albums in Pollard's catalog.

it's so good, also the next two after that,Ataxia and Gringo

Kind of can't get over 'Society Dome' at the moment

Streaming show this Friday...from the official website:

"Full electric set from an empty venue to your living room. Professionally mixed and pre-recorded with 7 cameras on a big socially-distanced stage. Unlike a lot of other streams, this is not acoustic in the living room… It will look and sound amazing."

Which is a little disappointing because I think I'd prefer to see sad man in him room GbV.

what's the capacity of that venue?

Maybe it's out there somewhere, but I haven't been able to confirm what they mean by "venue". In true Pollard style, it should be a Dayton garage somewhere.

Occupancy: Brightside Bar Only - 130 Bright Bar + Vodvil Ballroom - 430

https://www.thebrightsidedayton.com/

What music or art have you turned to for comfort?

I read a lot. Mostly biographies, conspiracies, or metaphysical stuff. Alice Bailey, H.P. Blavatsky, that sort of thing. I have art books, and I like to occasionally examine the works of people like Ernst, Rauschenberg, Pollack, Jasper Johns, Basquiat, collagists like Kurt Schwitters, Hannah Hoch. Lots of surrealists. Of course, I listen to a lot of rock. Mostly Sixties and Seventies.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/gbv-album-styles-we-paid-for-robert-pollard-1033011/

Bob getting into theosophy is funny and awesome

Great article, thanks.

I think it was the alien lanes thread a couple months ago where people were convinced that Bob was a sports-bar-schlub, and I was saying that was an unfortunate (quasi-classist?) angle of their initial marketing (Scat/early-Matador) that stuck. The guy's obviously well-read and possessing well beyond average awareness of post-modern art.

I think I was arguing in that thread that you can be both

there's nothing to argue about
of course you can be both!

That particular intersection is much narrower than you guys are making it seem, ime/imho.

I was worried for a while that he might be a Trump guy, but then he was sending videos to Beto O'Rourke saying "we are with you in your anger" so I feel a little better now.

If a 'sports bar schlub' just means a guy who likes drinking beer and watching sport then that's not all that narrow an intersection tbh.

xp what in the world would ever make you suspect that?

Those Cash Rivers records leaned pretty heavily into his "it's politically incorrect and if you don't like it don't listen to it" shtick that seems to pop up here and there. Just a bad vibe. More than happy to be wrong!

I didn’t know Beto was a GBV head

Re: his politics, I've never gotten bad or edgelord vibes except from some lyrics that use homophobic slurs and some pretty, uh, questionable lyrics that could be construed as misogynist...but the former instance is singular ('coming into town with the giggling faggots') and the latter is just sort of a thing that I think pervades most of cis male fronted guitar music.

he also said he would allow "no girls in the clubhouse" and that tipped me off to his particular brand of misogyny. most people at least pretend.

aw I don't think that's misogynistic—any more than the No Boys Allowed! thread. Just a bunch of married dorks watching basketball.

I think Tobin Sprout is a conservative

^^ he is
and i disagree Hadrian. the power dynamics are different with no boys allowed and i think that's pretty obvious.

not to mention "no girls in our band" is pretty weird when you make as much music as this guy does

every thread here lately

what a total drag this place has become

Personally, I hate that kind of thing—I'm a little skeeved by any puropseful gathering of just men or just women. But I do know men who do this and would be be reluctant to characterize it as misogynistic. My take on it is a kind of retreat to presexual boyhood—days of "cooties!" yore.

xp yes

whatever
if you think this is a drag for you, imagine what a drag it is for me
bye

aw I don't think that's misogynistic—any more than the No Boys Allowed! thread. Just a bunch of married dorks watching basketball.

― singular wolf erotica producer (Hadrian VIII)

hadrian i would strongly urge you to reconsider this notion

i am also not really feeling like explaining how they are different in detail right now

i'll just say that that doesn't accord with my experience as someone who has been in male-only spaces as well as female-only spaces.

I'm sorry, I don't think it's fair to accuse a bunch of guys who have known each other since they were kids of hating women...because they like to go into a garage and fart and watch sports together or whatever. I also think "no girls allowed" is too obviously stupid to be anything but ironic.

Not my trip either, but I'm not down with making character assessments like this.

to be clear—yes, I do understand the different power dynamnics and that the comparison is not equivalent.

I also know—and respect!—the fact that this *kind* of exclusivity allows for comforts, e.g. an arena to talk freely and more comfortably about personal gender and body stuff that might inhibit people on other kinds of mixed company.

"no girls in our band"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1_1ptzs0FM

Credited Musicians
Vocals/Guitar: Robert Pollard
Vocals/Drums: Kim Deal
Vocals/Guitar: Kelley Deal
Guitar: Tobin Sprout
Guitar: Jim Pollard
Bass Guitar: Jim Greer

Again, I'm grossed out by men-only stuff—including widely accepted therapeutic practices, retreats etc. that are meant to sensitize men, liberate them from stereotypes, etc. But I'm not willing to paint every gathering of "men only" as harmful to women. I mainly think it's embarrassing, but obv. for some people it's healthy

No chicks in the tree house! That’s what I told Kim Deal. We were touring with The Breeders, and Kim asked me, right after Last Splash, “Why don’t you let me play bass?” And I thought for sure she was just fucking with me, so I said no. And I probably would have let her, but then I told her that we have a policy that there are no females allowed in Guided By Voices. It’s like when you’re a kid and you have your tree house and there’s no girls allowed in it. Then she did an interview in some GIRL magazine and she called me over and she goes, “Explain your philosophy to her!” And I said, “No chicks in the fuckin’ tree house, OK?”

― brimstead, Thursday, June 22, 2017 3:23 PM (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink

here you go http://ink19.com/2001/04/magazine/interviews/guided-by-voices-9

― brimstead, Thursday, June 22, 2017 3:23 PM (three years ago) bookmarkflaglin

It’s like when you’re a kid and you have your tree house and there’s no girls allowed in it.

this is exactly what I meant by presexual retreat

in the annals of male slights towards women, "not letting" them into your AOR fanclub for alcoholics ranks pretty low imo

Kim asked me, right after Last Splash, “Why don’t you let me play bass?”

Lolllll, that's quite a subtle dig at her then-husband haha. I'm pretty ambivalent on GBV outside of 92-95, but Kim is the best.

Again, I'm grossed out by men-only stuff—including widely accepted therapeutic practices, retreats etc. that are meant to sensitize men, liberate them from stereotypes, etc. But I'm not willing to paint every gathering of "men only" as harmful to women. I mainly think it's embarrassing, but obv. for some people it's healthy

― singular wolf erotica producer (Hadrian VIII)

see, again, having been in some of those men-only spaces you are "grossed out" by, i don't find those spaces to be particularly harmful. it didn't do much for me, for reasons which are in retrospect glaringly obvious, but i think the _idea_ is not necessarily "gross".

Another life ago, when I was married, my then-wife would regularly attended a "ladies' night" party thing in the town where we had recently moved. And then their husbands started doing the same thing, on the same night, out of boredom or jealousy or whatever.

Anyway, I went a couple times and yeah I was kind of grossed out...they were trying their best to bro it up in a kind of forced way...and yeah, it just seemed really stupid and I found it embarrassing, maybe "grossed out" is too strong. I never went back.

On the other hand these were all very old friends who were able to comfortably talk about their erectile dysfunctions or whatever in way that no doubt some would not have been in the company of each other's wives. And I wouldn't begrudge them that.

GBV actually started as an ED support group

As We Go Up We Go Down

orginally "the ED guys" but they decided on something subtler

Is that what Bob and the guys talk about?

That's my understanding, yes. Mainly erections.

Those women don't know what they're missing.

Based on the few times I’ve seen Kim Deal in a live / stage-patter setting, she seems like she could hang with a bunch of belching, cursing dudes as well as anyone!

She could and she has. That's not the point! She is but *one singular woman* (and a GOAT to boot) and he has made thousands of songs.

My observation that he has some kind of problem working with women goes back to this very fact. I am not saying he is a hateful piece of shit nor have I ever implied it -- that is because I do not believe it. I am saying he does not see women as his professional equal with the exception of *one* woman. For me, a longtime fan of his music and woman musician, I was and remain disappointed to see that this is considered ok and status quo based on his good ol boy persona.

I don't actually like talking about this at all because it reminds me the lengths to which people will go to deny the reality of what I am saying by distracting and bringing up the ONE TIME he worked with Kim Deal. It happens like clockwork.

otm la lachera. boys in this thread would do well to consider ll’s words. earlier posts lamenting what a drag it is confronting similar opinions in all of the ilx threads is some bullshit

Bingo LL - Well said.

Bob's worked with like 400 guys and 2 women AND has said he doesn't want women in his band... not much wiggle room there tbh.

My point was just that it was weird he would say “no girls in the treehouse” to Kim, of all “girls.”

Yeah that's pretty unfortunate to learn as Kim boosted GBV's audience quite a bit by releasing the Breeders' cover of "Shocker In Gloomtown" on an EP around the time Scat released Bee Thousand, which was probably the first time outside of a pretty narrow audience had heard a GBV song.

But I'm far less invested in GBV as most people on this thread, they had a really amazing streak that caught my ear for a few years.

LL OTM. I've always felt Bob showcased the bloke-ish sports-guy chauvanism as a machismo cover for his awkwardness over being creative, but you are what you present to the world, and it's always been a turn-off.

I've always interpreted Giggling Faggots as a bandname, like "Coming in to town with the Giggling Faggots", but I have nothing to support my theory that that's what Bob meant, that's just where my brain went the first time I heard it. It's a pretty jarring line, which was probably its purpose, but it hits a bum note on an otherwise sublime album.

Tbh, as a fag, I don't mind it, but understand how it turns people off.

I love GBV and a lot of Pollard's other work, even, but it's no coincidence that I know exactly zero women outside of ILX who give a shit about either.

I saw GBV in the early 2000s in Chicago & late in the extremely long set he went on a rant about how Jim DeRogatis didn't like the band, and started riffing on what (he thought) DeRogatis liked, saying "Hip hop? I'm hip, hop on this", shoving his dick out, "Rap? Wrap your lips around this", shoving his dick out, and "Disco? Dis go in your mouth", again shoving his dick out. I thought it was shitty, probably more misogynist than homophobic, but both.

That the shows are full of the indie equivalent of frat bros is also evidence, yes.

When I saw them in 2002, Sonic Youth were playing the same night across town, and he went on this long drunken rampage about how GBV were better because their name had more letters. It was truly embarrassing.

I saw GBV and Sleater Kinney at NYC Summerstage - a weekly concert in Central Park that pairs artists in double bills. Toward the end of GBV's set, Pollard growled, "Who's here next week... Shudder to Think and ABBA?"

I took it as a joke, more or less, about Summerstage's "eclecticism" (not that the sets were really eclectic); but my STT-loving friend took it as a dis, and was angry.

GBV and Sleater Kinney at NYC Summerstage

my only memory of that show, which occurred toward the end (it may have contributed to the end) of my maniacal gbv obsession, is that sleater-kinney blew them off the stage.

I picked up the GBV "final show" DVD from a thrift store a few months back. Great setlist but hardly the world's most inspiring live band, if that's anything to go by.

Which GBV final "final show" was it?

The Doug Gillard era bands were very professional but dull - like Doug Gillard in fact.

Which GBV final "final show" was it?

https://www.discogs.com/Guided-By-Voices-The-Electrifying-Conclusion/release/2417151

/GBV and Sleater Kinney at NYC Summerstage/

my only memory of that show, which occurred toward the end (it may have contributed to the end) of my maniacal gbv obsession, is that sleater-kinney blew them off the stage.

The Doug Gillard era bands were very professional but dull - like Doug Gillard in fact.

I don't think records like Speak Kindly are dull in the slightest

Great setlist but hardly the world's most inspiring live band, if that's anything to go by.

I dunno, I've seen the band a handful of times, starting around "Bee Thousand," continuing through its bigger venue alt success, and most recently on New Year's Eve a couple of years ago, and each show was an absolute blast despite the band being nowhere near one of my favorites.

From the same interview above...

One time I saw you guys play with Sleater-Kinney in Central Park…

Oh wow…

And it was this thing where, you’re waaaay over there, and between me and the stage there’s this football field of freaks, and all I can see is the freaks… so I had no idea what was going on on stage.

Do you remember when I started throwing beers? I got in trouble a little bit for it, too. I’m glad I got away with that one, I could have killed someone. But people were asking for beers, so I’d hand them off. Then there were people farther back, so I started flipping them. Then I’d toss them, and after awhile I was throwing them all the way back, as high as I could, and they were coming down… bottles of beer… I could have killed someone.

That’s so Nikki Sixx.

I thought it was a punk rock thing, but then I realized it was pretty fucking stupid. Someone from my label came out and tried to grab me, to stop me. That was a weird show, because it was really hot, and it was scary actually. There were a lot of people there. We were told by riot grrls in Portland that “Sleater-Kinney is going to burn the stage up on you guys.” Come on!

I notice one of the the inserts for that DVD has an image of Cosey Fanni Tutti (from the gatefold of "Heathen Earth") on it:

https://img.discogs.com/RDLoLABgUL_cddQZ0rPI7ZiUxHE=/fit-in/600x901/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2417151-1493698410-4710.jpeg.jpg

I don't think records like Speak Kindly are dull in the slightest

That's an exception, I generally don't like his guitar playing at all.

The stuff is still good because songs, but that's mostly in spite of Gillard.

i think gillard's problem in gbv is that his playing was sympathetic with a lead vocalist who didn't particularly reward that sympathy. tobin and mitch's strategy of drowning the singer out was a much, much better choice. (i say this as a fan, fwiw.)

i think gillard's problem in gbv is that his playing was sympathetic with a lead vocalist who didn't particularly reward that sympathy. tobin and mitch's strategy of drowning the singer out was a much, much better choice. (i say this as a fan, fwiw.)

GBV and GBS fighting out at the top of the New Answers page.

Shmoo loves Throbbing Gristle, who knew? Pollard, that's who.

That was a weird show, because it was really hot, and it was scary actually. There were a lot of people there. We were told by riot grrls in Portland that “Sleater-Kinney is going to burn the stage up on you guys.

I guess I remember it being hot, but not dangerously crowded or "scary" (but I also don't remember him throwing beers)!

Yeah, I remember the beers too. It wasn’t a football field though!

i think gillard's problem in gbv is that his playing was sympathetic with a lead vocalist who didn't particularly reward that sympathy. tobin and mitch's strategy of drowning the singer out was a much, much better choice. (i say this as a fan, fwiw.)

I can hear that. I think my problem with much of his stuff post-Mag Earwhig, say, is the laziness of his vocal melodies - often I just don't find them very compelling.

As for GBV the live band, I've loved shows they've played, I've owned bootlegs that are excruciating to listen to in their sloppiness, I have no desire to see them play for four hours or whatever, but the London shows they played last summer really relit my fire.

Oh, don't get me wrong: I'd go to see them live *any time* it happens again.

Like, I understand that I am also one of those indie frat boys in some way, but mostly because I believe Pollard is the greatest lyricist of his generation, no contest.

LL this this just came into my mailbox and I thought of you...this ship has probably sailed but I think they were just out of that other shirt^^^^ size your friend tried to order? Seems it does comes in a small (I had checked for my daughter who is a fan). There are women's and unisex shirts too

https://stores.portmerch.com/guidedbyvoices/featured-products/womens-tie-dye-groovy-t.html

omg lol -- the shirt for girls has girls on it, smh
i do appreciate the thought :)

ha true enough

there are others though!

1) is there a consensus "best robert pollard impersonation"?
2) is it, in fact, tim heidecker about 1:00 into this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfG8nEhNMhk

(cross posted from https://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?showall=true&bookmarkedmessageid=7667828&boardid=41&threadid=103910)

lol

That's brilliant

New album is just ok

very glad I clicked through to the youtube page - Heidecker's impersonation turned into a track
https://soundcloud.com/calmcnamara/the-universe-of-crayon-man

New album is cool, even better than the other album out earlier this year, though Bunco Men is the best track by some distance, and is obviously a vintage Pollard composition

whoa yeah Bunco Men was on the first suitcase

it's a bit sad that he's probably better off revamping old barely-heard outtakes than writing new stuff

the rest of the album is strong too. I'm guessing Bob just got a whim to bring it to a larger audience, or someone in his current band felt they should have a crack at it. Though I kind of think trying to second-guess the reasons behind Bob's creative decisions is a fool's game.

that keith cross and peter ross albums the guy recommends at the end is great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMyWQqgnjbg

Seems like Bob's been allowing himself at most one reworked Suitcase track per album the last few years. Sweating the Plague had "Your Cricket Is Rather Unique," Space Gun had "That's Good," and August by Cake had "Dr. Feelgood Falls Off the Ocean" (formerly "Something For Susan In The Shadows").

Mirrored Aztec is really great! Best one* since Motivational Jumpsuit

*that I've heard, there's probably at least 10 now I haven't heard

I didn't know Bunco Men but it didn't really stick out to me as the best song or anything

Swimming river flow
Rifle, bullet, arrow & bow
Plaster, paint & tile
Lepus, canine, cat & reptile

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Monday, August 1, 2016 7:00 PM (four years ago)

As expected, this verse randomly pops up in my brane on occasion... but what does it mean?

shopping list

don't patronize the mountain men

where do taco, buffalo, birddog and jesus fit it?

Mr. Child

https://www.gbvdb.com/images/guided_by_voices_styles_we_paid_for_large.jpg

Styles We Paid For, out 12/11

jesus man. the pace of these albums is exhausting.

Maybe it's just because I've long been a Pollard follower, but it doesn't feel any more exhausting than usual. It's just all centered around GbV instead of also being spread out among solo albums and side projects. I mean, it was 3 GbV records in 2020 and 3 in 2019. In, say, 2015 he released 3 Ricked Wicky records, a solo record and a Circus Devils record.

Just checked out Legendary Pink Dots/Edward Ka-Spel and Acid Mothers Temple's recent discography. Some things never change, they'll still be making 5 albums a year after everyone is dead.

With AMT it's really who they collaborate with that points toward whether a record will be good or not. The Acid Guru Pond album they did with Bardo Pond a few years back is pretty nice...some of their other stuff, well y'know.

really, really digging the new one

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=electronic+windows+to+nowhere

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hAgD3NsP04

^a better Ocasek sound than most of Do The Collapse

Somewhat Ashamed to say that these days I get more pleasure from reading the track titles than hearing the music

"somewhat ashamed" and "these days i get more" both decent gbv track titles. also, i assume this is exactly how pollard comes up with his.

Pollard comes up

there is a song on this new album called "Crash at Lake Placebo" that immediately makes me think of

http://i.imgur.com/l0Dskcl.jpg

"Crash at Lake Placenta" more like! made the wrong connection there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=595V9k5DczQ

Pollard comes up

lol

tobin sprout :(

https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=tobin+sprout&two_year_transaction_period=2020&min_date=01%2F01%2F2019&max_date=12%2F31%2F2020

yup

it's like he has no soul, man

always seemed to be chatter that he was right wing, but I guess the best I hoped for was some kinda weirdo old guy libertarianism

Thought he'd died there for a minute... good as though.

drrrr

jfc

It was not chatter - it was verified! He has been like this for a long time. Tragic really!!

https://news.avclub.com/just-tim-allen-waxing-poetic-about-his-collection-of-p-1827499171

His paintings are indeed awesome though. I have a really tiny painting of his of a television set (not in the photorealistic style though).

Easy for me to separate art from artist here tbh... as disappointing as it is not surprised given his facebook activity in the Obama days. He has since cleaned up that public profile.

i do think his art rises above the "this is by a guy in a band i like" gimmicky aspect

Yeah and it also generally rises above rich-suburb-art-walk type of stuff too imo. He has great taste as applied to art but it's too bad he has poor taste otherwise. He was also very nice the few times I've corresponded with him. For people with discrepancies like this especially I feel like they're victims of a cult and have been poisoned.

was this the thread where someone was putting together a playlist of the good songs from the post-reunion albums?
if so, would you mind sharing?
if not, would someone remind me what thread that was on?

I made this but that was just the first reunion of the og lineup, obv there have been 200 albums since then

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6pNdtcAVo6SVin1hcF594M?si=cRkl_HFZQDS02DupjKzfBw&utm_source=copy-link

hopefully someone else made a more updated one but I don't remember

ok thank you -- still on the search!

hey LL I did this but it's not a playlist, proper mp3 mix with edits, dm me if you'd like

https://i.imgur.com/FkPt1Cz.jpg

2017-2020 (1:37)

I made this one last year (two albums ago now):

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1idxGsnYtzSHZY2ipxQSdP

The idea was to make kind of a Human Amusements vol. 2, so there are a few songs from Half Smiles of the Decomposed on here since that album wasn't covered on Human Amusements.

Awesome! Thanks y’all.

ISOLATION DRILLS came out 20 years ago this month

might prefer DO THE COLLAPSE for GBV Is Produced but 'the enemy' and 'pivotal film' (among others) are undeniable

xp electric sound of jim's playlist of worthy reunited GBV was this as of 2013, i.e. two dozen albums ago

Guided by Voices - Flunky Minnows (2:11)
Guided by Voices - Class Clown Spots a UFO (3:17)
Guided by Voices - Everywhere is Miles From Everywhere (3:05)
Guided by Voices - Keep It in Motion (2:06)
Guided by Voices - The Challenge is Much More (1:48)
Guided by Voices - You Can Fly Anything Right (1:54)
Guided by Voices - King Arthur the Red (2:14)
Guided by Voices - Finger Gang (1:50)
Guided by Voices - The Unsinkable Fats Domino (1:53)
Guided by Voices - Be Impeccable (2:56)
Guided by Voices - Waving at Airplanes (3:13)
Guided by Voices - Jon the Croc (2:32)
Guided by Voices - Roll of the Dice, Kick in the Head (0:46)
Guided by Voices - W/ Glass in Foot (2:20)
Guided by Voices - Skin to Skin Combat (3:42)
Guided by Voices - No Transmission (2:18)
Guided by Voices - Billy Wire (2:03)
Guided by Voices - Hangover Child (2:57)
Guided by Voices - White Flag (2:14)
Guided by Voices - Trash Can Full of Nails (3:30)
Guided by Voices - Xeno Pariah (2:03)
Guided by Voices - Smoggy Boy (0:34)
Guided by Voices - Chain to the Moon (0:59)
Guided by Voices - Have a Jug (1:09)
Guided by Voices - Chocolate Boy (1:31)
Guided by Voices - Islands (She Talks in Rainbows) (2:16)
Guided by Voices - Imperial Racehorsing (2:54)
Guided by Voices - Waking Up the Stars (2:13)

Isolation Drills is mostly quite good, but, yes, a notch below Do the Collapse; my standout pick would be "Fine to See You".