The latest collaboration project from Robert Pollard comes with a bit of a twist: Pollard hooked up with another indie rock icon, Richard Davies (The Moles, Cardinal), to form the band Cosmos. To round out the ensemble, Davies enlisted some of his Massachusetts merry men to assist with the music, including David Minehan (The Neighborhoods) and Malcom Travis (Human Sexual Response, Sugar). On Jar of Jam Ton of Bricks, the vocal duties are split between the two heavyweights: Pollard takes lead on eight songs, Davies on four. The album flows back and forth between atmospheric acoustic sounds with great Pollard melodies on top ("Sudden Storms Are Normal," "Just by Pushing a Button") to all-out pop rockers ("Nude Metropolis," "Westward Ho"), and concludes with a bang with the emotionally charged Davies-sung tune "Hail Mary."
LP $13.00
06/09/2009
CD $13.00
06/09/2009
MP3 $9.90
06/09/2009
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
MP3 $0.00
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
MP3 $0.00
11/11/2008
"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...
LP $12.00
02/26/2008
CD $12.00
02/26/2008
MP3 $0.00
02/26/2008
Robert Pollard's Superman Was A Rocker is a return to old ways. This mini-album (13 songs, 30 minutes) finds Pollard using recording methods he hasn't engaged in since his time in Guided By Voices. Pollard recently poured through a bunch of old cassette tapes and found some great, never-used instrumentals that he either wrote or co-wrote, and and he decided to go into the studio and put vocals (and melodies!) over them, just like he "used to back in the old Guided By Voices days." The music spans a 20+ year period, so in essence, this is an album 20 years in the making. Due to the span of time and body of work from which the clips were accessed, many of the classic Guided By Voices alumni appear on this album: Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Kevin Fennell, Doug Gillard, Nate Farley. This is the most fun Pollard album in years. It plays like an old-time radio show with recurring song lead-ins by two "guest DJs." "Love Your Spaceman," co-written by Pollard and ex-GBV drummer Kevin March, is one of those instant Bob-classics that will surely wind up on various Best of Bob comps down the line. "Peacock" has a bluesy, Stones-like feel to it that recalls early Guided By Voices live basement recordings. The album's closer, "More Hot Dogs Please," is flat-out screaming punk rock that includes the original vocal track by Pollard recorded on the song back in the '80s. Superman Was A Rocker...
LP $9.75
02/12/2008
CD $9.50
02/12/2008
MP3 $0.00
02/12/2008