POLLSTAL BLOWFISH - ILM Artist Poll #8 - Guided By Voices - ReSuLtS!!!

for the record, what i don't like about "Glad Girls" is the same thing I don't like about "Girls of Wild Strawberries" -- plodding undynamic unremarkable generic song about "girls"

26. "Shocker in Gloomtown" (The Grand Hour, 1993) [262 points, 10 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_GO0i0ohbw

(bonus Breeders cover with GBV cameos)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FqhOQLD3t0

yaaaay

love the breeders cover!!!!!

yeah that is a great version. first time i saw gbv, kim miraculously appeared to sing on that and goldheart mountaintop.

According the youtube uploader, that GBV vid is from just earlier this month and was the final show of the tour (maybe the final show ever? well, probably not that.)

how the hell did we miss it
bared his ass for all to see
and no one got to kiss it

The more I think about it, the more I think this song came in too low (I realize that #26 out of a zillion is pretty high, but still...).

Definitely too low.

Glad Girls -- but I was really torn between that and Motor Away.

― righteousmaelstrom, Thursday, June 21, 2007 2:01 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark

Haha. These are neither my #1 or #2.

25. "Cut Out Witch" (Under the Bushes Under the Stars, 1996) [264 points, 14 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjkJIy2vZ2I

This one almost made my ballot and I could have picked one of the lower tracks and replaced it with this one pretty easily. Always great live.

cut out witch is awesome

Gloomtown does feel too low. So much crammed in those 90 seconds.

Cut out witch totally great. Pretty good showing.

Great song!

love the structure of Cut Out Witch - sounds so easy but other bands could try for years and fail to come up with something as snappy and well formed as that.

24. "14 Cheerleader Coldfront" (Propeller, 1992) [281 points, 14 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFvonufcz8A

No love?

Lotta love! I voted for this. Just really busy at work today, so I'm limited in my time for deep thoughts.

Overall I'm pleased that my #1 is still yet to come. Unless ILM will shame me by shutting it out completely.

I don't really like 14 Cheerleader Coldfront very much tbh. It has never really moved me.

It's so delicate, especially in the midst of what's around it on Propeller. It's swoony.

I love this one. I think I had it tops among all the pre-Bee Thousand songs. I am totally out of touch with the greater GBV community, so actually I had no idea everybody else loved it too. I thought it was an unconventional pick on my ballot.

See, for me, Circus World is swoony. 14 Cheerleader -- I dunno -- it just doesn't soar, it doesn't drive, it doesn't even plod -- it just kinda sits there harmonizing like a forgettable pair of strummers singing a coffee shop duet.

I would never get into this much detail with people who hadn't already spent this much time discussing the minutiae of GBV songs, but we have, so I did.

I get what LL is getting at wrt "14 Cheerleader Coldfront", but I voted for it because they always seem to be able to breathe new life into it on-stage.

If I'm in a wistful mood this is the ticket - great lyrics

stay close to locker rooms

23. "A Salty Salute" (Alien Lanes, 1995) [302 points, 14 votes, 1 #1 vote]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX6vRwEZFrM

C'MON C'MON C'MON!

I still cringe at "no coin meters there"
I guess I'll never really love that song.

Anyway, PROOOOOOUD BROTHERS

One of the great album openers ever. Not surprising that they chose this to start off the 'greatest hits' CD too.

^^ so OTM

ha, i actually thought this'd be #1
greatest bassline ever.

'Blimps Go 90' FAR TOO LOW.

erg, i don't think i voted for that. but yeah, A+ opening track

An almost perfect GBV song, just admire all the lyrics:

Disarm the settlers
The new drunk drivers
Have hoisted the flag
We are with you in your anger
Proud brothers
Do not fret
The bus will get you there yet
To carry us to the lake
The club is open
Yeah, The club is open
Hey, the club is open
A-come on, come on, the club is open
C'mon, c'mon, the club is open
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, the club is open...

Yeah, since this poll I've been paying more attention to the lyrics, and some of them are so great. 'Atom Eyes' is my fave atm.

in retrospect i clearly threw most of my votes into the trash, but i think there will be at least 7 more that make it to the top 20

Love 14 Cheerleader Coldfront. A Salty Salute the first GBV song I ever heard. A great album opener.

I wonder if my #1 will show. It's not one of their bigger songs but one I think they've played every time I've seen them -- usually during the 1st or 2nd encore.

still laughing at that joke about "this one is on the house" from upthread

22. "Watch Me Jumpstart" (Alien Lanes, 1995) [306 points, 12 votes, 1 #1 vote]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRkntM8IFFY

A++++ run here

i love the sway/chug on watch me jumpstart!!!

I'm glad this one did not make the top 20. It's fine, but I've always found it to be a bit overrated, probably like my 10th favorite song or so on the album, maybe less.

Great live song, like it much better than the album version

that was my #2 i think? it's kind of a gbv litmus test sound-wise, some people just hear sludge, but the chorus hook is undeniable imo

i love to make up my own harmonies and doot doot doots to "watch me jumpstart" -- been singing the same ones for years, no idea why

'Cause I'm a supernova erect and white hot

tmi

21. "Dayton, Ohio—19 Something and 5" (Tonics and Twisted Chasers, 1996) [317 points, 14 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C6AhgMYiRg

re "Watch Me Jumpstart": my #8. GBV at their most anthemic. well, of course the same can be said about "Salty Salute".