Formed in 2001, the psychedelic rock trio Circus Devils features vocalist Robert Pollard, backed by brothers Todd Tobias and Tim Tobias. In their first album in six years, and their fifteenth overall, Circus Devils is back with Squeeze The Needle, a funhouse romp full of rock and roll swagger and childlike glee. The pounding psychedelia of the single “The Owl Presents…” harkens back to The Doors. Mixed into the twenty-track song collage are heavy rock thumpers (“Street Toughs,” “Mama’s Got A Brand New Snake”), cryptic interludes (“Age Of Transfusion”), and pretty acoustic pieces (“Difficult Dreamer,” “The Joke is Over”).
CD $13.00
10/27/2023
LP $19.00
10/27/2023
MP3 $9.90
10/27/2023
FLAC $11.99
10/27/2023
Robert Pollard’s freak-rock trio Circus Devils (2001 – 2017) says farewell with a pair of simultaneous releases. First is their 14th and final album Laughs Last, along with a best-of, double LP collection titled Laughs Best: The Kids Eat It Up (with DVD included). Laughs Best (The Kids Eat it Up) — a collection of 30 speedy deliveries from rock’n’roll’s Twilight Zone — will leave you exhausted, satisfied, and ready for another spin. Circus Devils’ entire mind-bending catalogue is represented here, including three songs from the brand new album. While the emphasis is on friendlier numbers, plenty of the trio’s prog psychedelia is also on display.
CD+DVD $16.00
02/24/2017
2XLP+DVD $31.00
02/24/2017
MP3 $9.90
02/24/2017
FLAC $11.99
02/24/2017
Robert Pollard’s freak-rock trio Circus Devils (2001 – 2017) says farewell with a pair of simultaneous releases. First is their 14th and final album Laughs Last, along with a best-of, double LP collection titled Laughs Best: The Kids Eat It Up (with DVD included). On Laughs Last, Pollard and the Tobias brothers romp breathlessly through multiple styles, starting off with the brash hotdogger, “Get Out Of My Way When I’m In Town.” Along the way we’re treated to the R.E.M. inflected “I Do the Nixon,” the organ-fuzz stomper “Teenage Rooster,” and the defiantly conventional “Crucified by The British Press.” Full of high humor and low drama, Laughs Last is the bold exclamation point at the end of Circus Devils’ 16-year run.
LP $16.00
02/24/2017
CD $12.00
02/24/2017
MP3 $9.90
02/24/2017
FLAC $11.99
02/24/2017
Stomping Grounds, the new full-length from Ohio-based Circus Devils, blasts off with a full side of brash, catchy rock ’n’ roll featuring the vocal bravado of Robert Pollard at full tilt. The album’s flipside detours into more psychedelic territory, offering a mixture of weird and pretty vignettes. Themes include the wasteland of regimented work-ruled living, sexually active geezers, lost girls, sick doctors and impressionistic recollections of the stomping grounds of boyhood. The album closes with the standout track “Sunflower Wildman (Remember Him?),” an anthemic prog-rock story song about a shut-in with dementia who chases boys away from his sunflower-choked yard. Stomping Grounds is high listening adventure, more exciting than 90% of the movies you will see this year.
LP $16.00
10/23/2015
CD $12.00
10/23/2015
MP3 $9.90
10/23/2015
FLAC $11.99
10/23/2015
***Exclusive A-side track "Girl in Space" backed with "Sunflower Wildman" from Circus Devils Stomping Grounds full length. Edition of 500 total.
7" $6.00
10/09/2015
MP3 $1.98
10/09/2015
FLAC $2.99
10/09/2015
On their thirteenth full-length album Escape, Circus Devils take a break from their brash psychedelic rock to gear down with a collection of acoustic ballads; friendly, lo-fi pop; and murky, otherworldly mood pieces. Once again, the trio delivers a mu- sical Twilight Zone where dream time and real time intermingle. For best results, listen late at night with headphones in a dark room.
LP $16.00
11/11/2014
CD $12.00
11/11/2014
MP3 $9.90
11/11/2014
FLAC $11.99
11/11/2014
Founded by Robert Pollard, completed by the Tobias brothers Todd and Tim, Ohio’s Circus Devils have been lurking under the radar since 2001. They’re back with two new albums for 2013, both released on the same day! The trio continues to stretch their musical muscles on My Mind Has Seen the White Trick, a set of thematically unrelated pieces that at times ventures into jazzier territory. The terrain remains darkly mysterious, as always, with multiple layers to explore and reward the listener on repeated plays. Unlike the trio’s albums of the past, the music was written to match the vocal melodies, instead of the other way around. It may be the birth of a new Circus Devils.
LP $16.00
11/12/2013
CD $12.00
10/29/2013
MP3 $9.90
10/29/2013
Founded by Robert Pollard, completed by the Tobias brothers Todd and Tim, Ohio’s Circus Devils have been lurking under the radar since 2001. They’re back with two new albums for 2013, both released on the same day! On When Machines Attack, the trio delivers a collection of eighteen sonic postcards from a probable future forecasting civilization’s approaching doom and the opportunities to cash in. The cast of improbable characters on display includes the “Controller” who introduces the album, along with Johnny Dart, Bad Earthman, Doberman Wasp, The Brain of the Iron Fist, and more. A satisfyingly unsettling listen from top to bottom (or perhaps unsettlingly satisfying?), it’s perfect for late-night car trips—driving alone, of course. Keep watching the skies!
LP $16.00
11/12/2013
CD $12.00
10/29/2013
MP3 $9.90
10/29/2013
Circus Devils hit the high seas with Capsized! (The exclamation point is part of the title!) Once again, the Ohio trio lead by Robert Pollard defies and transcends musical genres with a strangely coherent blend of soft rock, aggressive stompers and creepy soundscapes—plus the radio-friendly pop single “Cyclopean Runways.” Capsized! is cinema for the ears, taking the listener on a dark adventure with strange cargo, sirens, shipboard ghosts and bad soup. Circus Devils have been lurking under the radar since 2001. Capsized! is their ninth album.
LP $13.00
10/25/2011
CD $13.00
10/25/2011
MP3 $9.90
10/25/2011
Following their 2009 all-acoustic release Gringo, Circus Devils are back in form with Mother Skinny. This time, the Devils run the gamut from ham-fisted hard rock thumpers to freak-pop to pretty, ethereal numbers, all weaved together in a seamless song-collage. As always, the band is steadfast in their unpredictability.Founded by Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices), Ohio's Circus Devils have been lurking under the radar since 2001. Mother Skinny is their eighth album.
LP $13.00
03/30/2010
CD $13.00
03/30/2010
MP3 $9.90
03/30/2010
The Circus Devils prove that accessibility and experimentation can go hand in hand on Gringo, an acoustic song cycle with a 1970s Morricone-esque Southwestern flavor. You can almost smell the sage brush and gasoline on every track. Robert Pollard and the Tobias brothers tell the story of the Gringo with moods ranging from jubilant to melancholy to mean, all wrapped in the trademark Circus Devils palette of exotic sounds. As always, this is not last year's Circus Devils record, but with Gringo, it has never been truer.
LP $13.00
04/14/2009
CD $13.00
04/14/2009
H.P. Lovecraft meets Devo on Ataxia, Circus Devils' new collection of moonshine revelries and musical trips by torchlight into the mist-shrouded fields and forests of Ohio (aka: land of mystery). Robert Pollard and the Tobias brothers treat the listener to an intoxicating blend of jagged, insistent rock and uneasy lullabies. Formed in Ohio in 2001 by Pollard (Guided By Voices), Circus Devils create albums rich in atmosphere and imagery, filled with ferocity and gentleness. Their previous album, Sgt. Disco, was released on Ipecac Recordings in 2007. Ataxia is their sixth release.
LP $13.00
11/11/2008
CD $13.00
11/11/2008
*** The highly prolific, and über psycho-delic duo known as Circus Devils deliver their new opus, Five. Intricate instrumentals provided by Todd Tobias intertwined with the mesmerizing vocals, otherworldly lyrics and the sharp melodies of Robert Pollard result in twenty-three new, mind-expanding tracks.
LP $13.00
06/14/2005
CD $9.25
06/14/2005
MP3 $9.90
06/14/2005
The highly prolific, and uber psycho-delic trio known as Circus Devils are prepared to bring you their new mindfuck opus, Pinball Mars. Performed as a two part rock opera, Pinball Mars offers up the cleanest production to date on a Circus Devils release. As was the case with the first two Circus Devils releases, Pinball Mars takes you on a strange journey filled with bizarre characters and equally challenging music. This is not a band to be taken lightly. The Circus Devils open chambers of your mind you didn't know existed, but were afraid they might. Intricate instrumentals provided by the Brothers Tobias (Todd & Tim) intertwined with the mesmerizing vocals and melodies of Robert Pollard. For those who still haven't ventured outside of their pre- new millenium bomb shelters, The Fading Cading Captain Series is the label project of Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices. This label see various releases by various incarnations of various identities fronted by Mr. Pollard. The Circus Devils, as featured here, include Robert twisting his otherworldy lyrics in and around these sharp melodies as played by the brothers Tobias (Tim & Todd).
CD $9.25
04/06/2004
MP3 $9.90
04/06/2004
***GUIDED BY VOICES chairman, ROBERT POLLARD returns with TODD and TIM TOBIAS under their CIRCUS DEVILS moniker for another full-length psychedelic stunner. Twenty-two songs and snippets filled with bizarre characters, strange journeys, intricate music, and POLLARD's signature vocals.
LP $12.00
11/12/2002
CD $9.25
11/12/2002
***GUIDED BY VOICES chairman, ROBERT POLLARD returns with TODD and TIM TOBIAS under their CIRCUS DEVILS moniker for another full-length psychedelic stunner. Twenty-two songs and snippets filled with bizarre characters, strange journeys, intricate music, and POLLARD's signature vocals.
CD $9.25
11/12/2002
MP3 $9.90
11/12/2002
FLAC $11.99
11/12/2002
***A brain-numbing twenty-eight-song new album from the prolific mind of GUIDED BY VOICES chairman, ROBERT POLLARD. A driving blend of psycho-delics, freak-outs, and killer leftfield pop. Unpolished, ugly, and wonderful.
CD $9.25
11/13/2001
MP3 $9.90
11/13/2001