For me, this album and Bee Thousand are like two long songs. I would never put any of these individual tunes on a mix because I would sorely miss the song that would have come after it. How can you sing "the club is open...yeah the club is open...hey the club is open...cmon cmon the club is open..." and not immediately start singing "I am breathing / yet I see no sky..." right after it??
These albums - along with Propeller - are my idea of perfect records.
That said, even though "Game of Pricks" will probably take this quite easily, I'm going with "Salty Salute," because it signifies the beginning of, err, my favorite, 45 minute GBV song. Unfuckwithable.
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Sunday, 18 July 2010 15:37 (thirteen years ago) link
That was the one thing I didn't really like abt this album; it seemed so cluttered because every song just immediately turned into the next song without any pause.
― the aztec mystic pizza (Stevie D), Sunday, 18 July 2010 15:42 (thirteen years ago) link
Love "Motor Away." I'm a terrible beginner guitarist, but one day I impulsively taught myself to play it, and I was floored how much the band gets out of so little, in this instance.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 18 July 2010 16:24 (thirteen years ago) link
"Motor Away" by miles & miles: it is what is left when you boil these songs for hours, the absolute essence of the band & absolutely essential.
― Euler, Sunday, 18 July 2010 16:41 (thirteen years ago) link
'Game of Pricks' is easily my favourite but picking a second would be really tricky. Maybe 'Closer You Are' (love the 'lookout rock' bridge bit) or 'My Son Cool'. Always amused by how much Pollard sounds like Liam Gallagher on that "Decide now!" (I guess they're both channelling Lennon).
― Gavin in Leeds, Sunday, 18 July 2010 18:08 (thirteen years ago) link
pimple zoo
― hobbes, Sunday, 18 July 2010 18:21 (thirteen years ago) link
"Pimple Zoo!!!" Yes. Good choice. I love how it sounds like it's just two different recordings of the same tune with just that acoustic passage in the middle to distinguish them...
Like I said, if I'm a nerd for any record, it's this one.
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Sunday, 18 July 2010 18:49 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah, i really think every cut here is fantastic. it's magic. this is their best record.
― hobbes, Sunday, 18 July 2010 19:47 (thirteen years ago) link
jim greer has a great story about the recording of "Game of Pricks" here: http://jamesgreerbooks.blogspot.com/2010/02/reconstruction-of-old-guided-by-voices.htmlsong is just pure goodness.
― tylerw, Sunday, 18 July 2010 19:51 (thirteen years ago) link
little whirl = best tobin song
― mookieproof, Sunday, 18 July 2010 20:09 (thirteen years ago) link
i think you might be right! i was *this* close to voting for it.
― hobbes, Sunday, 18 July 2010 20:13 (thirteen years ago) link
watch me jumpstart
― ciderpress, Sunday, 18 July 2010 20:14 (thirteen years ago) link
i am not trying to be awkward here but always thought the 28 seconds of HIT were the pinnacle
― Fer Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountain Ark (Mobbed Up Ping Pong Psychos), Sunday, 18 July 2010 20:43 (thirteen years ago) link
Sorry. 23 seconds, coming into town with the giggling faggots
― Fer Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountain Ark (Mobbed Up Ping Pong Psychos), Sunday, 18 July 2010 20:45 (thirteen years ago) link
― mookieproof, Sunday, July 18, 2010 4:09 PM (35 minutes ago)
that would be "awful bliss"
― the burn & shipley (k3vin k.), Sunday, 18 July 2010 20:46 (thirteen years ago) link
I SPEAK IN MONOTONE: LEAVE MY FUCKING LIFE ALONE
― the crucible of easily debunked e-mail fwds (stevie), Sunday, 18 July 2010 20:56 (thirteen years ago) link
i am wayy down with "hit".i love this opening couplet from "auditorium":
post punk x-man parked his forkliftlike a billion stars flickering from the grinders wheel
― hobbes, Sunday, 18 July 2010 21:00 (thirteen years ago) link
This band are in my top five ever, without a doubt. Maybe even top three.That should please them.
Get to England again, you old fucks and make another old fooker blissfully happy
― Fer Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountain Ark (Mobbed Up Ping Pong Psychos), Sunday, 18 July 2010 21:08 (thirteen years ago) link
come on come on the club is open
― calstars, Sunday, 18 July 2010 21:44 (thirteen years ago) link
Had to vote for the winner but prob would have gone for Hunting Knife or Motor Away otherwise. Or Chicken Blows, love the Beatlesesque vocal harmonies there. Contrary to article upthread i prefer the Tigerbomb ep versions of Pricks and Hunting Knife, heresy i'm sure.
― ledge, Sunday, 18 July 2010 22:41 (thirteen years ago) link
I jumped in there a bit quick. But "Pricks", in terms of sheer songwriting, is probably the best thing he ever wrote.
― tom d: he did what he had to do now he is dead (Tom D.)
― good news if you wear cargo shorts (contenderizer), Sunday, 18 July 2010 23:09 (thirteen years ago) link
"Game of Pricks" was covered by American pop punk band Jimmy Eat World and released on the deluxe edition of Bleed American.
"Game of Pricks" was also covered by British post-Grunge band, My Vitriol.
"My Valuable Hunting Knife" was covered by Motion City Soundtrack.
"A Good Flying Bird" was covered by Milwaukee punk rock band Crappy Dracula.
― mizzell, Sunday, 18 July 2010 23:11 (thirteen years ago) link
― dmr, Sunday, 18 July 2010 23:16 (thirteen years ago) link
Pricks was also covered by Owen Pallett and his violinxpost
― Zeno, Sunday, 18 July 2010 23:21 (thirteen years ago) link
also by me about once a day
― ledge, Sunday, 18 July 2010 23:23 (thirteen years ago) link
motor away
don't especially love this album, which is weird as it's the first GbV full lengther i heard.
― iPrincess 2.0 (electricsound), Sunday, 18 July 2010 23:35 (thirteen years ago) link
My Valuable Hunting Knife
― kornrulez6969, Monday, 19 July 2010 00:47 (thirteen years ago) link
this is hard, but it's gotta be "Motor Away" for me too. Also agree the love for B1000 sometimes seems to overshadow what a great record this is, arguably better...
― lynshroom, Monday, 19 July 2010 12:36 (thirteen years ago) link
haha, I considered doing a similar poll a week ago, only I would split it in two separate polls for each side of the album with exclusion of GOP, just to make the results a bit more interesting
since Game Of Pricks is way too obvious a choice, I think I'll go with Pimple Zoo so it will have at least one point, though it could easily be something else
― V79, Monday, 19 July 2010 14:46 (thirteen years ago) link
I voted for "Game of Pricks" in a Best GBV song poll (back when there weren't limits on poll options) so I voted for my Favorite Tobin Sprout GBV song, "Little Whirl."I once got an enthused and inquisitive caller at the radio station after playing it. "What was that song?!" Gotta love it.I don't care what you do anymore.
― Trip Maker, Monday, 19 July 2010 14:50 (thirteen years ago) link
A Salty Salute is a great opening number, too.
― Trip Maker, Monday, 19 July 2010 14:51 (thirteen years ago) link
tbh i had no idea before this poll that game of pricks was the obvious choice. gonna vote little whirl just to even it out. xp !
― sonderangerbot, Monday, 19 July 2010 14:51 (thirteen years ago) link
So many I love, but Motor Away.
― ithappens, Monday, 19 July 2010 15:55 (thirteen years ago) link
it always was "as we go up, we go down", i think nowadays it's "little whirl"
― Arghn, Monday, 19 July 2010 16:56 (thirteen years ago) link
closer you are
― mizzell, Monday, 19 July 2010 17:22 (thirteen years ago) link
I love so many of the songs and Game of Pricks is probably the best song here but I gotta give props to Blimps Go 90, such an effortlessly breezy melody with great lyrics.
"Often times I'm remindedOf the sweet young daysWhen I poured punch for the franchiseAnd thus was knightedGot so excited"
― ColinO, Monday, 19 July 2010 17:23 (thirteen years ago) link
One of my favorite albums, and a pretty much impossible poll to vote on. The songs that deserve to win probably will, so maybe I'll just throw in for "Chicken Blows". I've a soft spot for that pretty, odd little choon.
― SNEEZED GOING DOWN STEPS, PAIN WHEN PUTTING SOCKS ON (Deric W. Haircare), Monday, 19 July 2010 18:15 (thirteen years ago) link
I am srsly incapable of doing this.
I was a total gbv fanboy in the 90's and went through a prolonged period of trying to create some distance from these records (incl. Bee Thousand and Propeller) for fear they would never justify the ridiculously high esteem I held them in...
Anyway I went back to this and Bee Thousand and Propeller a month or so back and was just completely kind of...overwhelmed...by how fucking amazing these records are. The whole notion of Pollard from this era getting lumped in with other lo-fi acts or even with other melodically adept indie rockers just seems so completely blinkered fifteen years on.
I think Pollard was harnessing real genius here — as opposed to expertise or peak craft or whatever — that he was actually touched with some kind of open-channel thing allowing him to create these perfect self-enclosed and fully formed universes which were only very rarely more art than pop or vice versa.
FWIW as much as I love this record for me the first side of Bee Thousand shatters to pieces just about anything having the misfortune of bumpered listening and I incl. in that estimation hallowed Zeppelin, the mighty Fall, Dylan and maybe even my daughters' laughter.
― Hadrian VIII, Monday, 19 July 2010 18:17 (thirteen years ago) link
I voted Motor Away due to it's immediacy when I was first getting into them in the summer before college 12 years ago and my friend made me a GbV cassette and I was literally motoring down an icy street. But it was followed closely by Hit, which was my roommate in college's favorite song (ever).
― the who cares (okamax), Monday, 19 July 2010 19:05 (thirteen years ago) link
The Tigerbomb version of "Hunting Knife" is my favourite GBV song ever, but I gotta go with "Salty Salute".
I hate "As We Go Up We Go Down". I got in a teenage fight with a friend who was a GBV hater. Her proof was the flimsiness of the "We see the truth, yeah, it's just a lie" lyric, she thought that if anybody would make a chorus that bad, then any other moment of lyrical resonance must've just been accidental.
― The Bartered Bride (Ówen P.), Monday, 19 July 2010 20:50 (thirteen years ago) link
― Major Lolzer (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 19 July 2010 20:58 (thirteen years ago) link
dunno, i love how gloriously dumb "we see the truth yeah" is -- it just sounds soooooo good. xpost
― tylerw, Monday, 19 July 2010 20:59 (thirteen years ago) link
first time i saw them, right when Alien Lanes came out, someone (maybe it was me?) requested "as we go up" and pollard strapped on a guitar for the only time that night and played a (very drunken) solo rendition. was awesome.
― tylerw, Monday, 19 July 2010 21:01 (thirteen years ago) link
btw Owen P., yr "game of pricks" cover was fab.
― tylerw, Monday, 19 July 2010 21:06 (thirteen years ago) link
the most important decision i will make today. and it's "closer you are". the world just stops for those descending chords in the chorus.
― we will all be able to tell which is the best (lukas), Monday, 19 July 2010 21:10 (thirteen years ago) link
tylerw, nice story. "I didn't at first fully understand what was going on, which is to say that we were in fact already recording the song..."
― we will all be able to tell which is the best (lukas), Monday, 19 July 2010 21:15 (thirteen years ago) link
i think 'Motor Away' was the first gbv song i heard
― hot dub grime machine (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 19 July 2010 21:30 (thirteen years ago) link
This is a perfect album.
― drew in baltimore, Monday, 19 July 2010 23:08 (thirteen years ago) link
"flimsiness of the "We see the truth, yeah, it's just a lie" lyric, she thought that if anybody would make a chorus that bad..."
OK this is one of many instances where I again feel like I don't understand what makes lyrics good or bad at all, and am completely unable to understand extreme feelings one way or another, making me terrified to try writing any more lyrics myself.
― If I post one thing on every thread, can I kill this whole website? (Evan), Monday, 19 July 2010 23:30 (thirteen years ago) link
Owen's teenage friend was a moron.
― no turkey unless it's a club sandwich (polyphonic), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 00:00 (thirteen years ago) link
Man, Vegas buffets aren’t what they used to be
― brimstead, Saturday, 2 May 2020 18:14 (three years ago) link
Xpost
I remember seeing Mitch hanging out and drinking with fans after in the hotel stairwell after their anniversary show set!
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Saturday, 2 May 2020 18:37 (three years ago) link
Bob Pollard was a jock in high school — haven’t any of you read Guided By Voices: a Brief History? Everything you need to know about Bob Pollard and his general worldview is in there. He’s not a mystery. He’s all of the above.
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Saturday, 2 May 2020 18:37 (three years ago) link
I read the Bee Thousand 33-1/3 recently and it does a pretty good job describing the millieu, the vibe. lots of insane hard-to-read overanalysis tho (sorry if the author posts here, overall I loved the damn thing)
― brimstead, Saturday, 2 May 2020 18:44 (three years ago) link
yeah that was v good I think
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 18:46 (three years ago) link
I read the Jim Greer book about GBV, which I didn't like much, I hated all the stuff about Bob and boorish buddies boozin' it up in his basement tbh.
― The Corbynite Maneuver (Tom D.), Saturday, 2 May 2020 18:53 (three years ago) link
For some reason Bob Pollard finds them fascinating but fuck knows why anyone else should.
there are no snobs in heaven
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 18:56 (three years ago) link
I imagine that way he's always the star and the focal point.
― The Corbynite Maneuver (Tom D.), Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:02 (three years ago) link
no
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:05 (three years ago) link
If anything it's the opposite. There are ton of different reasons to love spending time with people you've known your whole life.
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:06 (three years ago) link
Jim Greer should write a better book next time then.
― The Corbynite Maneuver (Tom D.), Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:11 (three years ago) link
― My Chess Hustler (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:12 (three years ago) link
So how does the Dayton Mafia stack up next to The Memphis Mafia?
― My Chess Hustler (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:13 (three years ago) link
If anything it's the opposite. There are ton of different reasons to love spending time with people you've known your whole life.― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, May 2, 2020 3:06 PM (twenty-eight minutes ago)
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, May 2, 2020 3:06 PM (twenty-eight minutes ago)
― My Chess Hustler (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:42 (three years ago) link
MM has political connects
― calstars, Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:42 (three years ago) link
This never really worked for me.
It's reliant on not moving very far from where you grew up.
― The Corbynite Maneuver (Tom D.), Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:51 (three years ago) link
Right. I have actually been living pretty close to where I grew up for the past decade and half, which caused some deal of anxiety at first, which I believed I touched upon last night in the group hang when it was mentioned.
― My Chess Hustler (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 May 2020 20:09 (three years ago) link
xxxp yes the B1000 book
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 20:46 (three years ago) link
james I've had p much the same experience, by choice, but I can also appreciate the value in it
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 20:50 (three years ago) link
I listened to this album today and the whole lo-fi thing is, in retrospect, not so great - I don't really see what people saw in it, to be honest.
― The Corbynite Maneuver (Tom D.), Saturday, 2 May 2020 21:56 (three years ago) link
Did anyone read the recent Pollard bio? Or was this alluded to above in code? (Who's the Replacements fan?)
― Paul Ponzi, Saturday, 2 May 2020 22:58 (three years ago) link
Jim Walsh.
― My Chess Hustler (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 May 2020 23:30 (three years ago) link
I read and loved it but I don't know if I'm the most objective reviewer, it's great to have anything in-depth to read
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 23:38 (three years ago) link
their first NYC show (after a 6 year live show hiatus!)
a life-changing night. for me anyway. afterward, on the sidewalk outside cbgb, i bumped into stephen malkmus, who i didn't know, and he told me i should go see the ass ponys, who were playing somewhere else, maybe under acme?, at like 1:30 am, but i went home 'cause my life had already been sufficiently changed, but later i came to regret missing that ass ponys set. that was a good time to be alive and into rock music.
― fact checking cuz, Sunday, 3 May 2020 00:33 (three years ago) link
Lol I saw the Ass Ponys open for Afghan Whigs
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Sunday, 3 May 2020 00:34 (three years ago) link
I saw the Ass Ponys at Brownies once. The opening act was The Upper Crust and Conan O'Brien and Andy Richter were there to see them, I think. All I remember is what seemed to be a really long, drawn-out version of "Ape Hanger." I ended up being a huge Wussy fan in recent years.
― My Chess Hustler (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 May 2020 00:39 (three years ago) link
I always found the Upper Crust to be a dependably stupid fun time
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Sunday, 3 May 2020 01:40 (three years ago) link
Yup.
― My Chess Hustler (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 May 2020 02:04 (three years ago) link
lol if ever there was a song written for dulli to sing it is 'mr. superlove'
obv he did a great job with it
the upper crust rule
― mookieproof, Sunday, 3 May 2020 02:23 (three years ago) link