Boston Spaceships

Boston Spaceships

Let It Beard

GBV Inc

Robert Pollard has called the epic double-LP Let It Beard “a subconscious concept album about the sorry state of rock and roll.” A 75-minute thrill ride through the many forms Pollard has mastered in his three-plus decades of writing and recording, it’s “the White Album meets Quadrophenia meets Jesus Christ Superstar,” in his words. “Meets Same Place the Fly Got Smashed,” adds guitarist Chris Slusarenko. Let It Beard features strings, horns, keyboards, a female soul singer and guest turns from such luminaries as Colin Newman from Wire, J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr, Steve Wynn from the Dream Syndicate, Mick Collins from The Dirtbombs, Dave Rick from Phantom Tollbooth and Mitch Mitchell from Guided By Voices.

Boston Spaceships

Our Cubehouse Still Rocks

GBV Inc

Following three full-length Boston Spaceships records in only two years, Our Cubehouse Still Rocks is a breakthrough fourth album from the band featuring Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices), Chris Slusarenko (Guided By Voices) and John Moen (Decemberists). The collaboration began as a long-distance recording project, but brilliantly hits its stride on this album as an unshakable, actualized band. For a group that took their name from the over-the-top UFO illustrations on record covers from '70s arena rockers Boston, there's no denying a classic-rock flag flying high overhead. Just below, however, is the bustling churn of art-damaged new wave, echoes of Devo, mid-period Wire and the sour songcraft of the Rough Trade stable. From the near-prog sunshine psych of "Track Star" to the barn-burning album closer "In the Bathroom," the sixteen songs fly by in a gust of demented, high-energy pop. Pollard's visual arts talents, especially his fascination with collage, have integrated themselves into the sonic realm with Boston Spaceships. While early GBV had the occasional tape cut-up, on this album compositional collage runs through the songwriting, be it schizophrenic structure or a completely random burst of overdubbed drum solos. Easily the best collection of songs from the Spaceships, the record is brimming with hooks and Pollard's incredible gift for melodies so catchy they shine through even the weirdest musical surroundings.  More than anything here, Pollard sounds rejuvenated and excited. At this point--literally thousands of songs into a decades-long career--one might anticipate his unprecedented prolific output would result in a few phoned-in...

Boston Spaceships

Camera Found The Ray Gun

Jackpot

***New material from supergroup Boston Spaceships. Featuring the skilled popcraft of Bob Pollard (Guided By Voices), Chris Slusarenko (Guided By Voices) and John Moen (The Decemberists), this four-song offering gives us a new window into what powerful pressure-cooker pop can mean in the modern age. Taking a page from the Rough Trade catalog, and echoing the sneery bombast of the Fall or mid-period Wire, there's an undercurrent of new wave washing through the catchiness.” Vinyl is limited to 500 copies.

Boston Spaceships

Zero To 99

GBV Inc

Boston Spaceships' Zero to 99 is quintessential Pollard, a record that holds its own alongside widely acknowledged classics like Guided By Voices' Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, and Under the Bushes Under the Stars. One gets the sense that Pollard is having the most fun he's had in decades, before he was pulled reluctantly from obscurity and thrust into the limelight with GBV in those heady, post-Nirvana mid-1990s. The Boston Spaceships have not only landed; they're conquering the goddamn planet. "Is everybody happy now?" Pollard defiantly screams on the opening track, as if he knows this is this record that longtime fans have been waiting for. So it's perhaps ironic that he confirms these suspicions with track two, "How Wrong You Are," an anthemic Pollard insta-classic that proves quite quickly just how right listeners are to get excited. From the moment the first chorus begins, Pollard digs his hooks in deep and never lets go, culminating in a raucous sing-along reminiscent of the "You are forgiven" refrain in The Who's "A Quick One While He's Away." Zero to 99 barrels like a freight train from there, delivering track after track of vintage Pollard pop rock, with a band more than up to the task of helping to fuel the engine. From the Buzzcocks-esque guitars on "Found Obstruction Rock 'n' Rolls," to the Keith Moon-ish, Tommy-era drums of "Question Girls All Right," to the McCartney-like bass riffs on "Trashed Aircraft Baby" that would fit right in on Abbey Road, Zero to 99 is a...

Boston Spaceships

Planets Are Blasted

GBV Inc

Following a four-star review in Mojo and a successful whirlwind US tour, Boston Spaceships return to Earth just five months later with their sophomore album!   Chris Slusarenko (Guided By Voices, Sprinkler) and John Moen (Decemberists, Elliott Smith) have never been so impressive. Robert Pollard himself was sequestered in Dayton, Ohio for nearly two years without touring, concentrating on his songwriting and artwork. The trio's efforts are readily apparent on The Planets Are Blasted.  This nuanced and transcendent rock album culminates with four of Pollard's best songs yet. The majestic and metaphorical "Queen of Stormy Weather," who threatens to "pee on my parade," is followed by "The Town That's After Me," which combines acoustic, electric guitar and strings to stunning effect. "Sight on Sight," a four-minute mini-epic, detours to otherworldly chants, echoes and drones, sitars, handrums, and tambourines, but rocks like heck, and the verse of "Heavy Crown" is melodically reminiscent of the Guided By Voices hit "Everywhere With Helicopter," but Pollard ups the ante with an even better chorus and then goes over the top with a still catchier refrain.

Boston Spaceships

Brown Submarine

GBV Inc

Though one will notice some subtle prog flourishes and acoustic strums, Brown Submarines is a pop punk album, made by and for kids who've worn out the grooves on their Cheap Trick, Alice Cooper, Wire, and dBs records. While Robert Pollard has stretched out post-GBV, experimenting on each of his diverse and unique solo records, Boston Spaceships rock hard, have fun, and drink Miller Lite.  Without undue hyperbole, Pollard is penning fantastic pop songs in a style no longer fashionable--perhaps never fashionable. Makes no difference; on Brown Submarine, Pollard's charged up and sings his ass off. He was so enthusiastic about this album that he's decided to play his first proper club tour in two years. This from a guy who hates flying, goes bananas sitting in the van, and has turned down tours with Radiohead and The Strokes.   Give Brown Submarine a spin or two--it'll make you feel like a kid again, too. Or go ahead, ignore Boston Spaceships and keep yourself busy finding the next Vampire Weekend, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, or Ned's Atomic Dustbin. But if you save this album on your shelf and pull it out a few years from now, it is guaranteed to make you very, very happy...  Personnel: Chris Slusarenko (Takeovers, Guided By Voices, Svelt, Sprinkler) John Moen (Perhapst, Decemberists, Jicks, Elliott Smith, Dharma Bums) Robert Pollard (needs no introduction)