Guided By Voices   Page 2

Guided By Voices

Motivational Jumpsuit

GBV Inc

Motivational Jumpsuit is the latest, bestest release by reunited indie rock (whatever that means) juggernaut (means an unstoppable force) Guided By Voices. It speaks in several silvery tongues, and like last year’s English Little League takes many routes to the same shimmery, elusive destination: rock greatness. Its 20 songs (in 38 minutes!) range from the shaggy, Who Sell Out pop-pourri of “Evangeline Dandelion” to the lurching, rifferific “Planet Score,” breezing briskly through every worthwhile rock ’n’ roll style sheet along the way. Robert Pollard and co.’s influences are by now so thoroughly assimilated that Guided By voices referents are mostly to other Guided By Voices songs / eras: “Save the Company” calls to mind the band’s Bee Thousand / Alien Lanes lo-fi glory daze, while “Vote for Me Dummy” could be from Isolation Drills. For instance. Recent intramural turmoil aside (Guided By Voices has a long history of members quitting / getting fired / posting private correspondence online / waking up in the gutter), the band has never sounded more cohesive. Tobin Sprout’s insanely catchy feather-light confection “Record Level Love” bobs up against the deeply purple spray-paint rock of “I Am Columbus,” which pinballs into the elastic, sprightly “Difficult Outburst and Breakthrough”—the pacing and variety always seem to make some kind of higher sense, if only as an appeal to the senses. Motivational Jumpsuit is gangly, wordy, heavy, lovely, catchy, rocky, complexly simple, and better than almost any record you’ll hear this year. This is the fifth record (in three years) by...

Guided By Voices

Alex And The Omegas

GBV Inc

Guided By Voices

Planet Score

GBV Inc

Guided By Voices

Save The Company

GBV Inc

Guided By Voices

The Littlest League Possible

GBV Inc

Guided By Voices

Vote For Me Dummy

GBV Inc

Guided By Voices

English Little League

GBV Inc

English Little League—the fourth album from the reunited “classic” Guided By Voices lineup of Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Greg Demos, Mitch Mitchell and Kevin Fennell—hums like angry birds along the full spectrum of rock’s highways and byways (especially the byways), from rock to roll and back again. Pollard’s rebus system of songwriting (sounds made visible, abstract concepts symbolized) strung like fairy lights from the opening song “Xeno Pariah” to the galvanic closer “With Glass in Foot,” kettles along at full steam throughout, punctuated by the airier constructs of Sprout (“The Sudden Death of Epstein’s Ways,” with its sweet / creepy emphatic refrain of “Jesus,” is a particular standout).  The Guided By Voices project, as any fan knows, both requires and rewards effortful listening, and lazybones who dismiss the volume of Pollard’s output as (basically) impossible misunderstand the care with which he assembles his dreamscapes. Whiny types will thus be dismayed to learn that Pollard has recently installed a studio in his house (first fruits can be found on “A Burning Glass,” among others here), the better to transform his oneiric musings to immediate art, but converts to the clubhouse will be overcome—some will, in fact, faint—at the news. The plan at present is to release three Guided By Voices albums per year until the end of time, but in the world according to Robert Pollard, “plans” does not mean what it means to you and me. “Plans” to him are moving ideas caught momentarily in stasis, and subject as often...

Guided By Voices

Noble Insect

GBV Inc

The fifth single from English Little League, “Noble Insect” continues the noble tradition of Pollard writing a song over a Sprout instrumental (see, for example, “Hot Freaks”). In this case, the result is practically Japanese. The flip features jaunty Sprout piano-based shard “Waves of Gray” and a similarly piano-based, though Lennon-raw, Pollard snippet called “See You Soon.” We have every reason to believe he means it.

Guided By Voices

Xeno Pariah

GBV Inc

The fourth single from English Little League, Guided By Voices’ first album of 2013, “Xeno Pariah” will rip the heart out of your chest and put it back a little sadder and wiser. B-side “Little Jimmy the Giant” is a garagey reprise of one of the oldest songs ever written by Guided By Voices (included on the first Suitcase compilation, it was originally recorded in 1984.)

Guided By Voices

Trash Can Full Of Nails

GBV Inc

“Trash Can Full of Nails” is the third single from English Little League. Its propulsive, off-kilter rhythm underscores the melancholic melody, delivered with characteristic aplomb by songwriter Robert Pollard. Backed with a Tobin Sprout-penned psych-pop song called “Build A Bigger Iceberg,” which is solid advice.

Guided By Voices

Islands

GBV Inc

The second single from the upcoming LP English Little League features a typically lush Tobin Sprout pop construction, “Islands (She Talks in Rainbows),” which could have come off an early (very early) Bee Gees record. It’s backed with the sweet acoustic ballad “She Wore Blue and Green” and a deranged piano- and echo-soaked psych workout, “Full Framed Luberon.”

Guided By Voices

Flunky Minnows

GBV Inc

The first single from the upcoming Guided By Voices long-player English Little League is a classic Pollard-penned power-pop gem, as catchy as anything in the band’s canon. B-side “Jellypop Smiles,” a reverb-heavy acoustic number with out-of-tune recorder, wouldn’t sound out of place next to Bee Thousand’s “Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory.”

Guided By Voices

Down By The Racetrack

GBV Inc

Welcome to the commencement of 2013’s Guided By Voices recorded output. Please take your seats quickly. For those who slept through 2012, the Dayton, OH, rock legends released three hugely-acclaimed albums last year and toured throughout the United States of America, including Florida. Bandleader Robert Pollard also put out two solo albums, a couple issues of his collage-heavy zine Eat, as well as a “Best Of” record by his other old band Boston Spaceships, and conquered the moon, probably. Down by the Racetrack is Guided By Voices stretching out in a way not seen since early- to mid-’90s EPs like Get Out My Stations or Clown Prince of the Menthol Trailer. It’s a particular kind of lo-fi weirdness, from the spooky background “aahs” on “Pictures of the Man” to the drunk piano bashing on “Standing in a Puddle of Flesh.” The mix of wild, tossed-off vocals, raw guitar chug and skewed “Eleanor Rigby” / “See Emily Play” sweetness could only have originated from the Midwest-warped minds of Dayton’s canniest rock warlocks.

Guided By Voices

Bears For Lunch

GBV Inc

This is the reunited Guided By Voices’ third album of 2012, in case you had lost count. Many bands struggle to release three albums in their career, never mind three in one year. Let’s Go Eat the Factory and Class Clown Spots a UFO garnered four-star reviews and amens from the the faithful. The Bears for Lunch might top them both.  From the opening track, “King Arthur the Red,” with its full-throated riffery, slam-tastic drums and even some show-offy lead guitar shredding, it’s evident that GBV Mach II may just now be hitting its stride. The progression is not dissimilar to the one the band made from Alien Lanes to its 1996 high-water mark Under the Bushes, Under the Stars, both in terms of longer, more fleshed-out songs and a semi-pro approach (so to speak) to recording fidelity.  For all the well-deserved acclaim GBV’s first two records this year have garnered, Bears is a step up in every sense. This isn’t to say there’s a whole lotta gloss going on, and certainly the album has its share of more casually considered songs, but from the relentless drum figure that fuels sure-fire-live-staple and obvious single “Hangover Child,” to the chugging, melancholic, melody-mad “White Flag,” to the propulsive, early-REM-inflected album closer “Everywhere Is Miles from Everywhere,” the 19-song, 40-minute-long Bears delivers a gut-punch as sure and assured as anything the band’s ever dished out. And that’s without mentioning the stellar contributions of Tobin Sprout (“The Corners Are Glowing” and “Waving at Airplanes”...

Guided By Voices

Everywhere Is Miles From Everywhere

GBV Inc

***Limited edition of 1000, includes non-LP b-side “The World’s Getting Smaller” by Mitch Mitchell.

Guided By Voices

Hangover Child

GBV Inc

***Limited edition of 1000, includes non-LP b-side “Urchin Promise” by Tobin Sprout.

Guided By Voices

White Flag

GBV Inc

***Limited edition of 1000, includes non-LP b-side “Casino Model” and “Zebra Film Negative” by Robert Pollard.

Guided By Voices

Class Clown Spots A Ufo

GBV Inc

The new Guided by Voices album is the best thing the band has recorded since the last album by the legendary Dayton, Ohio, rockers. That’s not meant facetiously: the last thing Guided by Voices did was the rapturously received Let’s Go Eat the Factory, and Class Clown Spots a UFO ups the ante raised by that stellar effort, both in terms of recording fidelity (boring!) and songcraft (not boring!) One could argue there’s more depth and variety here than on Alien Lanes, that there are better songs here than on Bee Thousand, but that’s an argument no one’s ever going to win, at least definitively. And this album is a win, by any definition.  Class Clown is classic GBV, starting with the head-body-head combination of “He Rises (Our Union Bellboy),” “Blue Babbleship Bay,” and “Forever Until It Breaks” before finishing you off with the title track, a ridiculously catchy, melodically complex, shot-through-with-melancholia song that serves as a sadder and wiser riposte to XTC’s “Making Plans for Nigel” as performed by The Hollies.  And that’s just the first four songs of a 21-track album clocking in at just under 40 minutes. We’ve yet to get to “Keep It in Motion,” a propulsive, drum-machine-driven pop song which features acoustic guitars, strings, and Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout singing together in a way not heard since “14 Cheerleader Coldfront” on 1992’s Propeller. Possibly. Nor have we discussed galvanic rocker “Jon the Croc,” a clear single candidate, or “Chain to the Moon,” one of...

Guided By Voices

Class Clown Spots A Ufo (7 inch)

GBV Inc

The song "Class Clown Spots A UFO" is unusual for two reasons: 1) the title is not referenced in the lyrics. Most Robert Pollard songs contain the title within the lyrics, often within the first line. 2) It's a re-working of an old (mid-80s) song that first appeared in (lovely, slow, sad) acoustic form under the title "Crocker's Favorite Song," on the King Shit and the Golden Boys LP from Box, and later on the "Director's Cut" of Bee Thousand, and still later, a more fleshed-out version appeared on Suitcase 3. Although, come to think of it, the process of reworking older songs is not actually so unusual for Guided By Voices (see inter alia, the progression of 1983's "Walls And Windows" to 1994's "Hardcore UFOs"). 3) We can't count. And finally, 4) it's a ridiculously catchy, melodically-complex, shot-through-with-melancholia song that serves as a kind of sadder and wiser riposte to XTC's "Making Plans For Nigel" as performed by the Hollies.   The single contains two B-sides, "Message From The Moon", a Tobin Sprout number about the moon, clearly his favorite subject, and a "home-fi" (even lower than lo-fi!) version of "Worm w/ 7 Hearts" which has been studio recorded for the forthcoming album Class Clown Spots A UFO.

Guided By Voices

Jon The Croc

GBV Inc

"Jon The Croc" is one of the heavier songs on the forthcoming Class Clown Sees A UFO. We don't know who the Jon referenced in the title is, but we wouldn't want to be him. Features a wonderfully melodic dual-guitar solo towards the end. The B-Side is a classic Tobin Sprout song, with Toby playing all the instruments himself, and it's as catchy as hell, although we're not sure why hell is catchy, but people do say that. Would not have been out of place on the album itself, but you can't have everything. Apparently.

Guided By Voices

Keep It In Motion

GBV Inc

"Keep It In Motion" is a propulsive, drum-machine driven pop song which features, unusually, acoustic guitars, strings, and Robert Pollard / Tobin Sprout singing together in a way not heard since "14 Cheerleader Coldfront" on 1992's Propeller. Possibly. Bob recorded and sent to Toby at his home studio in Michigan for over-dubbing.   The B-Sides consist of "Pink Wings," a lo-fi snippet on which Pollard speak-sings scary lyrics about wings full of blood over a bed of Beatle-esque harmonies, not entirely unlike Alien Lanes' "Chicken Blows," and "White World," an actual Beatle-esque pop song with horns (or at least horn samples) and a Pixies-like bass intro.

Guided By Voices

Let's Go Eat The Factory

GBV Inc

After a fifteen-year hiatus, the “classic lineup” of Guided By Voices (Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Greg Demos and Kevin Fennell) finishes off its year-long reunion tour by releasing an album of 21 new songs, deliberately choosing to return to what bandleader Pollard calls the “semi-collegial” approach of iconic GBV albums like Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes. Let’s Go Eat the Factory is much more than a mere return, however: sprawling, variegated, heavy, melodic, and yet still recognizably and coherently Guided By Voices in both its literal and mythic senses. “At first I said: no reunion, period,” explains Pollard about the decision to revive Guided By Voices. “And definitely no record or re-formation. But the tour went so well; the response was really unexpected. I thought at some point that a lot of people would like to hear new GBV music. The chemistry was still there.” Eschewing the recording studio, Let’s Go Eat the Factory was instead manufactured in the living rooms, basements and garages of various longtime band members. Some tracks were recorded more-or-less live at Mitchell’s garage, where the band would often practice back in the early- and mid-90s. These sessions comprised Mitchell, Robert and Jimmy Pollard (Bob’s brother and long-time collaborator, who, though never a part of the touring ensemble, always played a crucial role on the classic-era releases). Some tracks were improvised over acoustic jam sessions at Demos’s house. Many were recorded at Sprout’s place in Wherever, Michigan, and later lovingly fucked with in order to achieve...

Guided By Voices

Suitcase 3: Up We Go Now

GBV Inc

Up We Go Now is the third in the Suitcase series of unreleased Robert Pollard / Guided By Voices tracks excavated from a suitcase of cassettes in his closet. Like the previous two volumes, Suitcase 3 includes 100 songs on four compact discs in a box. Disc 4 is an acoustic jam session by Pollard, Tobin Sprout, and Greg Demos in 1994-1995 (the period between GBV classics Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes). Suitcase 3 comes in eco-friendly slim cardboard CD cases, and the set sports a Depression-era-friendly suggested retail price of $31.98.

Guided By Voices

Suitcase 2 - American Superdream Wow

Recordhead

The kids have been asking for it, and who wants to deny the kids? The second installment of Guided By Voices Suitcase contains another hundred unreleased gems from the mind of Robert Pollard.   Despite the fragmented nature of the recordings and the way they’re assembled, Pollard carves out a solid, cohesive, and intriguing set that showcases all eras of this famed band. Like the previous Suitcase, each song is credited to a different band, depending on the players involved. The recordings date all the way back to the late ‘70s and are as current as Spring 2005. Demos, full band, live in the studio, discarded finished tracks, sketches of ideas - they’re all here. Looking for the germ of the idea behind “Teenage FBI?” How about the original “I Am Decided,” a song that Ms. Kim Deal borrowed for the The Amps record? Here and here. Ben Zing, Modular Dance Units and The Fake Organisms make appearances as well.  Included alongside these four discs of magic is a substantial 36-page book focusing on the imaginary bands. See for the very first time the lost Bug Eyed Mums album cover for Invisible Train To Earth or the discarded artwork for Acid Ranch’s Supersonic Love Funky Love Gun. Ever wondered what The One Too Many looked like? Or Mutts UK? Get ready.

Guided By Voices

Propeller

Scat

Note new cover and new price!!! Propeller was the fifth album by Guided By Voices, and was intended to be the group’s last. Released as a limited edition of 500 LPs in 1992, the album featured handmade covers and blank labels to keep expenses as low as possible. Their other albums hadn’t sold much, why would this one? Robert Pollard had a family to support and his musical aspirations had not exactly been a boon to their bank account.As fate would have it, the band wound up releasing an album chock full of gems Pollard had stockpiled, and for the first time sounded distinctly like the band that fans have since come to love. Propeller also marks the return of Tobin Sprout to the GBV fold, along with an increased songwriting presence. From anthem-to-be “Over the Neptune” to the effortless melodies of closer “On the Tundra,” Propeller is a hell of a ride, and remains one of the most important albums in the band’s discography.The vinyl edition has been out of print for a decade, and features different cover art than previous pressings. The CD edition has been out of print for a minute as well, and is now housed in digipak format, also with a new, unique cover from one of the original pressings. And for the first time Propeller is available on cassette.

Guided By Voices

Get Out Of My Stations

Siltbreeze

Originally released in 1993, Get Out Of My Stations boasts the same classic Guided by Voices lineup as Propeller - Robert and Jim Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Dan Toohey and Kevin Fennel (and let's not forget that it was lovingly fucked with by Mike Rep on the production side of things). Outside of the Siltbreeze seven-inch collection (Tard & Further'd), none of the original seven tracks have turned up on any GBV, Pollard, or Sprout project since this seven-inch was released 10 years ago. Too frequently overlooked - due to the unavailability of this record for many years - is how great these tracks are, even compared to the spate of seven-inch EPs that turned up in the wake of Propeller hysteria. Not one throwaway track exists upon it. This is blood, sweat and beers, otherwise known as blue ribbon GBV. (How and why this record originally came to be should tell you all you need to know: the recordings were traded to Siltbreeze for a pair of vintage Walt "Clyde" Frazier Pumas - 1973, size 11, green suede, never worn - and a bottle of Silly Goose authentic German apple schnapps. Those were the days!) Get Out Of My Stations, in all its lo-fi glory, now on compact disc for the first time, contains four extra live tracks from the same era. The recordings are sharp, captured as they came down - hot, spontaneous and presented to you honestly, without the assistance of studio gimmicks. Don't be afraid...

Guided By Voices

Static Airplane Jive

Recordhead

First CD issue of GBV's CLASSIC 'Static' EP. Originally released in 1993 on Siltbreeze 7" 

Guided By Voices

Box

Scat

***The question about The Guided by Voices Box is always, "Is it different than the original?" Yes and no. It contains the same music, still contains five discs, and has pretty much the same art on the slipcase. The art has been redone out of necessity, but any visual changes are minor. Nothing from the original pressing has been lost, aside from poor-quality upside-down scans. The biggest change is a switch from five digipaks to three jewel boxes.   Box compiles the first four Guided By Voices albums, namely Devil Between My Toes, Sandbox, Self Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia, and Same Place the Fly Got Smashed. Each is different in character, but all are quite recognizably GBV. They were originally released on vinyl only on various invented record labels in pressings of 300 to 1000 copies.   Box also includes a fifth disc, King Shit and the Golden Boys, material on which is an equal division of the best Bee Thousand outtakes and the best tracks from the lost "shit-canned" albums Back to Saturn X and Learning to Hunt.   Includes the complete first four LPs originally self-released between 1987 and 1990, plus a disc of rarities More attractive than the first time around 

Guided By Voices

Bee Thousand

Scat

***BACK IN STOCK!!!  Little introduction should be required here. Let it suffice to say that Bee Thousand is arguably the best, or at least among the top Guided By Voices albums in a copious discography. Accordingly, the album has stacked up accolades over the years, including being voted #1 on Amazon.com’s “100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums of All Time.” It’s a staple of such lists, and has also placed highly on those curated by Spin, Pitchfork, Mojo and Rolling Stone. This new LP pressing, the first since the late ’90s, honors the album’s 20th anniversary. It features new (and definitely improved) mastering from John Golden, a substantial gatefold jacket with a previously unpublished Robert Pollard collage, and high-quality virgin vinyl from RTI. We’ve also included a free download card.

Guided By Voices

I Am A Scientist

Scat

Guided By Voices

Clown Prince Of The Menthol Trailer

GBV Inc

Guided By Voices

Fast Japanese Spin Cycle

GBV Inc

Guided By Voices

Suitcase - Failed Experiments Box Set

Recordhead

***Number six in Recordhead's Fading Captain series goes all-out and overboard with a mad-ass collection of unreleased GBV tracks recorded over the entire course of their twenty-five year history. Check it out, one-hundred songs and over four hours of music spread out over four jewel-case packaged CDs, packaged in a full-color card box with a 34-page perfect bound book containing rare photos, original lyric sheets, set lists, and quotes from GBV fans and critics alike. Each song is credited to a different band name depending on the era in which the material was written. Hot freaks.

Guided By Voices

Vampire On Titus

Scat

Scat is pleased to announce a new vinyl pressing of the classic Guided By Voices album, Vampire On Titus. Although there were several different pressings in the 1990s, this is the first since 1998. This edition features a new master cut at Golden, is packaged in a sturdy tip-on jacket, and includes Robert Pollard’s original insert, now enlarged to a more readable size. Originally released in 1993, Vampire On Titus was not unique at that time in its four-track recording methodology, but it was perhaps the first to garner major media attention. Many minds were blown, and a few were baffled enough to return the album to the store, believing the crude sound meant their copy was defective. The album occupies a unique place in the GBV discography. It is a snapshot of a brief time in the band’s history, a turning point after having broken up the previous year. It doesn’t include any older or last minute material. Although sonically consistent, the songs exhibit tremendous variety, skirting several genres and many moods. The lineup is just a trio: Robert Pollard and brother Jimmy Pollard with Tobin Sprout. Although it could be described as one of GBV’s “difficult” LPs, it has several songs that could’ve been standouts on Bee Thousand or Alien Lanes. It was their first album that was not self-released. It is an innocent album, unaware of its audience, and fearless to the core as only true outsiders can be. As such, Vampire On Titus is an essential...

Guided By Voices

King Shit & The Golden Boys

Scat

As a companion piece to the vinyl reissue of Bee Thousand, Scat Records presents a new edition of this finest compilation of Guided By Voices outtakes. Originally included with the multi-disc set Box, this issue marks the album’s first release as a standalone piece. The first side features highlights from two otherwise unreleased albums from the band’s early days (Learning to Hunt and Back to Saturn X), while the second side mops up the best cuts left off of Bee Thousand. All tracks are exclusive to this release. Packaged in a high-quality, heavy-duty tip-on jacket and pressed on virgin RTI vinyl, this LP is a must for even the casual GBV fan.

Guided By Voices

Devil Between My Toes

Scat

Devil Between My Toes was the debut album by Guided By Voices, originally self-released by the group in February 1987 in an edition of 300 copies. Disillusioned by the lukewarm reception to the band’s debut EP the previous year, Robert Pollard resolved that this record would be conceived for an audience of one: “(it) is strictly for me and me only. Because no one’s going to buy it, no one gives a fuck, but I’m still gonna do it. So I might as well put only what I want on it, for me. An album for me.” Even amongst the 30-odd proper GBV albums, Devil Between My Toes remains unique, and not simply because it was the first to be released. Much like its out-of-focus cover photo of the mean rooster next door (Big Daddy), the album’s vibe is dark, minimalist, and mysterious. Most of the album was recorded as a trio, and it contains more instrumentals than any other GBV album, but like the best LPs in their catalog, the sequencing renders these tracks essential to the flow and mood of the LP. While there are the expected Brit Invasion hook-fests sprinkled throughout, we’re also treated to career highlights like the monolithic “A Portrait Destroyed by Fire” (Tobin Sprout’s first GBV appearance) and “Cyclops,” a track that would be right at home on Vampire On Titus had it been recorded more crudely.

Guided By Voices

Same Place The Fly Got Smashed

Scat

***ON LIMITED TRANSPARENT RED VINYL!!! Originally released in 1990, Same Place The Fly Got Smashed was Guided By Voices’ fourth album in as many years. Roughly a concept album about an alcoholic named Joker Bob who goes on a bender, someone dies, and Bob gets the chair (“the electrifying conclusion”). From the moment the needle drops, the listener is served notice that this isn’t going to be an easy listen, as an argument taped off of a TV cuts to a basement recording of a lone, blaring electric guitar with someone yelling over the top. But for those brave enough to pass the opening hazards, there are wonders within. This particular album has come to be held in higher and higher regard by fans, and they are correct to consider it a top-tier release. The story and sequence have a flow, and consideration for approachability is optional. Many of the crudest tracks reveal themselves as necessary stitches in the album’s tapestry. Yet it also contains all time greats like “Drinker’s Peace,” “Mammoth Cave,” the epic “Local Mix-Up/Murder Charge,” and of course “Pendulum” with its immortal opening line: “Come on over tonight, we’ll put on some Cat Butt and do it up right!”—a rare break in the clouds on one of the band’s darkest albums. This reissue, like the previous ones in this series, is a mostly faithful reproduction of the original pressing of 500 on the band’s own Rocket #9 label. And like the others, the virgin RTI vinyl is...

Guided By Voices

Tonics And Twisted Chasers

GBV Inc