C or D : Guided By Voices.

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.