C or D : Guided By Voices.

Jen from the IT to thread:@I know every song by Guided By Voices. I shouldn'teven knowWHO THEY ARE#

I'd love to be able to put my finger on what it is about these recent albums that make them so polarizing...like, I've seen a lot of people going nuts for Styles We Paid For, which I've listened to probably 4-5 times and it does absolutely nothing for me. Similarly, it seemed like Space Gun was a consensus favorite and I didn't care for it at all. On the other hand, I think Surrender Your Poppy Field is the best one since Isolation Drills, and I'm in the middle of my second listen to the new one right now and I think it's really, really good.

I can’t listen to anything post Under the Bushes

I am sorta the same. I like space gun though.

I kind of liked some of the ones around when Ric Ocasek produced that one but otherwise just can’t keep up sorry

For whatever reason I was really into Earthquake Glue, but otherwise the only post Under the Bushes album that is special to me is Mag Earwhig! I guess cause it's so close to the golden era, still has a good amount of weirdo charm. Not that I don't enjoy any of the rest of the post 96 stuff at all but my brain categorizes it as a different band entirely. Tobin Sprout element is pretty critical to me.

Isolation Drills was the last great one for me. I am kind of enjoying this new one.

Isolation Drills was my favorite after the early run. Still haven't listened to this new one yet.

Any Cub Scout Bowling Pins fans here? Fun new bubblegum/psych band that happens to have the exact same members as Guided by Voices? New album doesn't start off strong but it's pretty solid after the first four tracks or so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TLP9_n1_fA

Still waiting for the full-length to get here, but I loved the EP. Really fun stuff and one of my favorite new Pollard side projects.

Yeah tbh I think I like it as much as or more than all but a few of the post-reunion GBV albums

A new gbv album you say? Thought I’d never see the day

someone blasting 'game of pricks' just drove by

👍🏽

Cool. In the running for their best song.

Lot of competition of course.

Both in the sense of good songs and sheer amount of songs too numerous for most sane people to ever evaluate.

GoP overrated. The lazy choice.

Salty Salute ftw

At the moment for me, it's "Twilight Campfighter."

that changes every week or so, tho

I'd nominate "Redmen and Their Wives" from Under the Bushes, Under the Stars as their best song.
It seems typically perverse GBV procedure that they'd bury their best song as track 23 of 24, and then conclude with the only throwaway on the whole record.

Gold Star for Robot Boy

Everybody Thinks I'm a Raincloud

Geez, I didn't even get the title right.

*Everyone

Wait, no, I was right, Youtube had it wrong.

I'm so stressed.

Big boring weeding

Oh wow, the artist poll was 10 years ago! I wonder how many of the several hundred new songs that have been released in the meantime would place today...

All these answers are correct

Today it's "Hot Freaks"

right now: "To Remake the Young Flyer"

This version of "Dusted":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trmmuFv1CyI

right now: "To Remake the Young Flyer"

New one’s pretty good. My heart stopped a little when I saw only ten tracks on it. Ten enjoyable tracks though.

only ten tracks on it

so it's a 7-inch single then?

this is coming in October, collecting some of the songs from the 93-94 EPs:

https://www.discogs.com/release/24437195-Guided-By-Voices-Scalping-the-Guru-The-1-Off-7s-1993-1994

Sorry, here’s the copy from the rockathon site:

Scalping The Guru is an archival GBV release envisioned and sequenced by Robert Pollard as a cohesive album, featuring select tracks from four Guided By Voices EPs released in 1993-1994 by Domino, City Slang, Siltbreeze and Engine Records. These hard to find records are essential for fans of Vampire On Titus and Bee Thousand, with GBV classics including "My Impression Now", "Matter Eater Lad" and “Big School".

My Impression Now is such a wonderful song, though the bassline is bonkers

"Big School" is a total banger

My Impression Now is such a wonderful song, though the bassline is bonkers

― politics is about vibes and the vibes are off (stevie), Thursday, September 15, 2022 4:44 AM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

So is the drumming. The way the drum fills keep happening at seemingly random times and how the bassist is walking around aimlessly until the hook shows up, I'm convinced that they're both winging it on the recording by following Pollard's vocal and trying to figure out the melody as they go. Then the hook comes and they can recalibrate a bit.

I was thrilled to come across a very reasonably priced copy of the first Suitcase a few weeks ago, the original was the only one I hadn't had.

Discussion on Pitchfork thread re: 90s list sent me back into my first GBV binge in at least 15 years. I'm going back into all the EP's that accompanied their 93-96 run - so many great songs relegated to singles, B-Sides, etc. Somehow I never heard the Tigerbomb EP back in the day. Those versions of My Valuable Hunting Knife and Game of Pricks are really nice. It might be my favorite "good" GBV production.

But my real discovery is Dodging Invisible Rays, the Tobin Sprout song that closes the EP. It's like the Byrds via REM power pop band I've always wanted. Or something. I've played it 3 times tonight and I never do that.

Yeah that's a great track, my favourite Sprout song.

They played that one a lot during the “classic line up” tour iirc

The title sounds familiar. There are a ton of old tracks they regularly played live that weren't on an album. Matter Eater Lad, Dayton 19 Something and 5, etc.

Hell yeah, "Dodging Invisible Rays" was on an imagined follow-up I made to the GBV greatest hits CD that came out right before their hiatus. In fact, just for the hell of it, here's that tracklist...

Over the Neptune...
As We Go Up We Go Down
Buzzards and Dreadful Crows
Skills Like This
Girls of Wild Strawberries
Goldheart Mountaintop...
Wished I Was a Giant
Quality of Armor
Gleemer
Gold Star for Robot Boy
Lethargy
Pimple Zoo
Do the Earth
My Valuable Hunting Knife (Tigerbomb EP version)
Dig Through My Window
If We Wait
Brides Have Hit Glass
Unleashed! The Large-Hearted Boy
Jane of the Waking Universe
Fair Touching
Eureka Signs
Don't Stop Now
Closer You Are
Smothered in Hugs
Dodging Invisible Rays
Postal Blowfish
My Impression Now
Sad If I Lost It
Huffman Prairie Flying Field
Redmen and Their Wives
Dayton, Ohio - 19 Something and 5

"Shocker in Gloomtown" was always one of my deep cut favorites. I knew what he was talking about in the lyrics as I had seen the cover band PS Dump Your Boyfriend before - as they were a midwest staple of that era. The lead singer of that band wore chaps and would kinda do a Jim Dandy/David Lee Roth thing where he would do karate kicks on stage busting balloons.

Big Fan of Propeller (sounds like a title itself)… lethargy, exit flagger, circus world

Throw the switch / it’s rock and roll time

on the tundra, some drilling implied, weed king, quality of armor…. So good