Psycho And The Birds

Psycho And The Birds

We’ve Moved

Happy Jack Rock Records

"The third time's a charm" usually means something has to get screwed up twice before it gets done right. But what if the first two tries are really pretty good? The third one is just so much more... charming.  That's what the third Psycho And The Birds release, We've Moved, is all about. Waaaaay back in mid-2006 (we're talking "Bob years" here), Robert Pollard released two Psycho And The Birds albums. The first, the full-length All That Is Holy, was followed by the EP Check Your Zoo. The concept surrounding Psycho And The Birds is that Pollard writes songs and records them on his infamous boombox (into which every song he has written since the early '90s has been sung), and sends them off to producer/multi-instrumentalist/visionary Todd Tobias, who adds band's worth of music .  This time around they totally nail the process, and if the music world allowed artists like Pollard a chance to have a hit, this album would be chock-full of them. "I Love a Revolution" and "Enon Beach" are filled with undeniable likeability and pop goodness. A perfect combo of playful lyrics and flawless arrangement makes it hard to imagine that one entire half of the song was recorded on an $27 boombox. Pollard even pulls out some lyrics in "She Tears Out," first written, he says, as a kid.  In some ways, Psycho And The Birds are to Robert Pollard's solo albums what Robert Pollard solo albums are to Guided By Voices...

Psycho And The Birds

Check Your Zoo

Fading Captain Series

Check Your Zoo is the second in a series of enhanced boombox recordings from Robert Pollard and longtime studio cohort Tim Tobias. Like the duo’s full-length debut, All That Is Holy, this new six-song EP features Tobias fleshing-out Pollard’s raw demos in the studio with an array of additional instruments. It’s an interesting approach offering a fresh view of Pollard’s ever-evolving songwriting talent. Many of these tunes were recorded several times and alternate versions are sure to surface on future Pollard releases.

Psycho And The Birds

All That Is Holy

Recordhead

Try to stop the Fading Captain. Just try. Sandwiched between two “official” solo albums, Psycho And The Birds is a “sort-of” solo album and yet another point of light in Robert Pollard’s rapidly expanding, post-Guided By Voices universe. Though it was recorded spontaneously, All that is Holy is no mere collection of throw aways. These tunes might emerge again someday.  Pollard recently pulled out the old boom box to lay down some ideas and quickly discovered — surprise! — he had enough material for a complete album. The tracks were then handed over to studio-whiz Todd Tobias, who proves again why he’s Pollard’s producer for life. Adding instrumentation to complement the raw recordings, Tobias beautifully weaves and twists harmonies around Pollard’s guitar and vocals. The result is an album heavy on the four Ps: pop, punk, prog and psych.  Pollard’s gift for writing bigtime hooks and the fact that he created these gems “on the spot” is astounding.