Guided by Voices: Vampire on Titus

Guided by Voices: Vampire on Titus

1993

Scat Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Wished I Was a Giant  2. #2 in the Model Home Series  3. Expecting Brainchild  4. Superior Sector Janitor X  5. Donkey School  6. Dusted  7. Marchers in Orange  8. Sot  9. World of Fun  10. Jar of Cardinals  11. Unstable Journey  12. E-5  13. Cool Off Kid Kilowatt  14.Gleemer (The Deeds of Fertile Jim)  15. Wondering Boy Poet  16. What About It?  17. Perhaps Now the Vultures  18. Non-Absorbing


Hmmm. Speaking as someone who indulges in home recording, there comes a time in every band's life when the vocalist will get the idea, "Hey. Let's try something different. Let's  run the vocals through an amp and then record the amp with a mic!" You're imagining the vocals finally soaring above the clangour of the drums but then you listen back to the day's session and realize the vocalist now sounds like he's trapped in a faraway box. 

These distant, boxy vocals do the band a great injustice because their greatest strength lies in Pollard's voice and crystal clear vocal melodies. When these attributes are obscured, the band's impact is blunted. In other words, this is an album that greatly benefits from reading along with the lyric sheet. For the much vaunted "lo-fi" sound of the band's discography, there's surprisingly little in their catalog where the rough recording quality eclipses the material but that's the case on a lot of this.  

"Wished I Was a Giant" and the fan-fucking-tastic "Sot" rise above the unfortunate vocal sound but other songs ("Unstable Journey," "Perhaps Now the Vultures" and I never realized what a great song "Dusted" was until I heard the later re-recording) don't. Still, this is GBV in their prime, so there's still much to recommend here. For one, this is where Tobin Sprout becomes a much more prominent figure and steals the show with "Sot" which just oozes that classic GBV vibe with its uplifting melodies and warm fuzzy guitars. I've also always liked "Wondering Boy Poet" but have no idea why they used this version over the gorgeous piano version on "Suitcase One." I guess the argument could have been made that it might have eclipsed the rest of the album. "#2 in the Model Home Series" has always been a minor favorite of mine, since Pollard once again taps into the dark bleariness that made "Same Place the Fly Got Smashed" such a favorite of mine.  The album ends with one of the band's all-time great closers (of which they have many, actually) "Non-Absorbing" ("Do you see me? Doo doo doot doo doo doo doo doo..."). "Non-Absorbing" actually sounds really great. Vocals are clear as day. 

But if you're into drums this might not be the album for you. A look at the line-up shows that they didn't have a drummer for these sessions so Robert Pollard mans the kit from time to time. This isn't a big hurdle for me, since a lot of GBV (and some of their finest moments) are drummerless. Y'know, Sometimes you have to do these things. You don't have enough people for a full band, but what do you do? Nothing? No. You keep things going. Write new songs. Make the most of what you do have. Again, keep it in motion. 

This might not be the place to start your long, unstable journey through Pollard's discography, but once you've thoroughly assimilated the "lo-fi" era you're in for a minor treat. Even the lesser tracks ("Superior Sector Janitor X," "Marchers in Orange," "World of Fun," "E-5," "Cool Off Kid Kilowatt," "What About It?")  have a pretty high entertainment value. Think of it as a fun afternoon sorting through the artifacts of someone else's basement. Nowhere near the high-quality of the albums on either side of it (that would be "Propeller" and "Bee-Goddamn-Thousand") but it's a key moment in GBV's history, with the total, unapologetic embrace of basement-quality recording,  the emergence of Tobin Sprout as the guy who would have a few songs each album and the moment where the "song fragments" become a regular feature. 

Here is my revised GBV ranking. I agonized over whether or not to put "Vampire on Titus" above "Sandbox." I probably listen to "Sandbox" more, but "Vampire" has that classic GBV sound and Sprout has a couple of real winners here that blow away most of "Sandbox," so I'm giving "Vampire" the nod, although I might feel differently tomorrow :

1. Propeller

2. Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

3. Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

4. Vampire on Titus

5. Sandbox
6. Forever Since Breakfast
7. Devil Between My Toes

Let's listen to some music. Here's "Sot" by the Mighty GBV. Enjoy heartily...

Guided by Voices:Propeller

Guided by Voices:Propeller

1992

Scat Records

Format I Own it on: That modern marvel, the Compact Disc

Da Track Listin': 1. Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox  2. Weedking  3. Particular Damaged  4. Quality of Armor  5. Metal Mothers  6. Lethargy  7. Unleashed! The Large-Hearted Boy  8. Red Gas Circle  9. Exit Flagger  10. 14 Cheerleader Coldfront  11. Back to Saturn X Radio Report  12. Ergo Space Pig  13. Circus World  14. Some Drilling Implied  15. On the Tundra



Alright, roll up yer sleeves cos we're diggin' into some good stuff...It just struck me that two years passed between "Same Place the Fly Got Smashed" and "Propeller." Two whole years without a GBV album?!?!  As legend has it this was Guided by Voices' first final album. Their last hurrah. The "Last Smiles of the Decomposed" of 1992. 

Because I wear a barrel, I own the 90's Scat Records CD version (but not the "Vampire on Titus/Propeller" twofer I see get talked about a lot. I'm not so sure those two albums are really compatible). But this album originally came out in a limited 500 vinyl copies with cool handmade covers...

The Natty Light one is easily my favorite. The record shop I frequent told me that years ago an original "Propeller" made its way into their store and sold for a whole heap of money. Woe be to my checking account if I ever run across one of these. 

I have no idea about the actual number of songs Pollard has written but since he's put out a 100 full-length albums, I'd say "thousands upon thousands" is a pretty safe number. Out of those thousands upon thousands one of them has to stand out among all the others. One of them has to encapsulate everything GBV is about. What is Robert Pollard's best song? His shining moment? I've mulled this over many times and I kinda keep coming back to "Propeller"'s opening track, "Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox." 

"Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox" has everything. It starts off with as an imaginary GBV live show (I'm not even sure if the band played live shows during this era), with the now ubiquitous chant of "GBV! GBV! GBV!" (when was the last time you went to a GBV show and didn't hear that chant? It breaks out literally ever 10 minutes or so. But it's origins lie in the band overdubbing themselves into a stadium-sized roar. They willed the obligatory crowd chant into existence, which is a fairly ingenious move). It begins as just Pollard delivering a sing-songy hook over a lone guitar (which constitutes a significant portion of Pollard's oeuvre) before the full band kicks in, sounding like the ideal version of themselves. Fuzzy, lo-fi guitars and pure basement majesty. Pollard throws off great melody after great melody (the "It's the things you say, It's the things you do, go right through me..." section seriously gives me goosebumps every time). 

"Hey, let's throw the great party,Today for the rest of our lives.The fun is just about to get started,So throw the switch, it's rock and roll time..."

Where was all the great stadium rock in the 90's? Turns out it was right here. I'm telling you. If the Beatles or The Who had put this song out, it would be lauded as one of the all-time greats...Don't let its relative obscurity fool you. 

And the first 3/4ths of this album are filled with other such highlights (honestly, the only song on the first 3/4ths that I'm not nuts about is "Particular Damaged" which has no discernable melody as far as  I can tell. It's just a repetitive guitar figure with Pollard howling over it). "Weedking" proves that it's possible to capture true grandeur on a small budget. "Quality of Armor" is an ace pop song (My band covers it and one of my proudest moments as a musician(?) was watching a bunch of mohawked tough-punks moshing in a circle to our interpretation of this GBV tune). "Exit Flagger" is another early GBV anthem that no live show is complete without (if you listen to this song and don't feel like you can take on the world afterwords, then you're listening to it wrong). "Unleashed!," "Metal Mothers," it all rules. 

And this is where Tobin Sprout, who would become Pollard's greatest songwriting foil, becomes a real presence.  He really excels at sweet, munchkin-y pop, the first taste of which we get on "14 Cheerleader Coldfront," a simple acoustic track where he and Pollard do some really lovely harmonies. It's all touching and nostalgic while maintaining a WTF mysteriousness. 

If the album didn't slightly falter near the end, it might be in the running for my favorite GBV album. I consider the dividing point to be "Back to Saturn X Radio Report" which is a collage of songs from an aborted album (this track was extremely intriguing in the pre-"Suitcase" era. What were these songs? Where could I get the full versions? There was one section that eluded me forever which turned out to be "Tractor Rape Chain (Clean it Up)"from the Darla 100 compilation). After that there are some cool songs but no flat-out classics. We get "Ergo Space Pig" which appears to be an exercise in making weird noses (fine, but not what I listen to GBV for. I might praise it if it were on a Half Japanese album or something), "Circus World" indulges in some languorous melancholy, "Circus World" is sorta interesting because it reminds me if Kiss attempted a wandering, amorphous melody and "On the Tundra" closes the album on a high note (an understated British Invasion number). 

On the whole, this is a must-have if you're interested in GBV. Definitely a great starting point, since it contains many of the band's finest moments. It's just a great hand-written love letter to the glory of Rock n' Effing Roll. It's been a couple decades since I first heard this and it's never lost an ounce of its magic. Long live Rockathon...

Let's listen to some music. Here's "Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox" by GBV enjoy...

Here is my revised ranking. Each new GBV album is still getting better than the last (except poor old "Devil Between My Toes"...

1. Propeller

2. Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

3. Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

4. Sandbox
5. Forever Since Breakfast
6. Devil Between My Toes

Guided by Voices: Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

Guided by Voices: Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

1990

Rocket #9 Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1.Airshow '88  2. Order for the New Slave Trade  3. The Hard Way  4. Drinker's Peace  5. Mammoth Cave  6. When She Turns 50  7. Club Molluska  8. Pendulum  9. Ambergris  10. Local Mix-Up/Murder Charge  11. Starboy  12. Blatant Doom Trip  13. How Loft I Am?


Alright. This one might actually make it into my top 5 GBV records. Or just outside the edges of that list. I effing love this one. It's a concept album about drinking but not the good timey Friday Night Record Party drinking. This is a night of drinking gone horribly wrong. And the sound and performances are appropriately dark and bleary (yet still packed with stellar melodies).

This album might present a couple of hurdles for new GBV listeners. The band retreats deeper into lo-fi, a good chunk of the album is hard-panned (which means it's not the most pleasant thing to listen to on headphones, but sound good blaring from home stereo speakers) and there's plenty of botched chords and out of tune guitars. Not to mention the album opens with "Airshow '88" which is a tuneless, shouting mess.

But man, is there some fucking great material on this album. Some of my favorite Robert Pollard vocal performances originate here; That second verse of the phenomenally rocking "Pendulum" where the music settles back down after the raucous chorus, but Bob's still all wound up and nails the performance to the ceiling. And "Local Mix Up/Murder Charge" is a brilliant vocal showcase. An epic mystery where Bob delivers the first half with a detached drawl (think John Lennon shell-shocked and drunk out of his mind, "all the pleasure seekers are out there tonight...") to the eventual death scene that shifts from screaming, bemused terror to a sort of humorous, Broadway-ish finish ("...and that's the electrifying conclusion!"). It's hard to believe this is the same guy from just a couple of album's ago. He's got such an expanded emotional range, more fearless in his performances and there's already a sense of self-mythologizing (especially for someone who was essentially recording these as "vanity projects." These were not albums you could go to your local record store and buy.)

Oh, and "Drinker's Peace" which is one of the best GBV songs, hands down. The poorly-tuned guitar sounds three sheets to the wind, and Pollard is appropriately numb. There's just so much regret and sadness.  When I first bought this album, I had to keep repeating the song over and over. Essential GBV for sure.

Other favorites, "The Hard Way" which rocks so much, "Club Molluska" which isn't much to speak of musically, but with that distant buzzing amp and Pollard's unhinged vocal, just glows. Oh, yea! My other favorite song (which is just as good as "Drinker's Peace" (but hardly ever gets mentioned)) is "When She Turns 50." Sure, it's a showcase for botched chording, but it's so sweet, sad and lovely that you can't believe it's not a revered classic you've known and cherished your entire life. The lyrics (and how they're delivered) really get me for some reason, Imagine Paul McCartney (circa the Cherry album) shit-faced yet nostalgic. "When I'm Sixty Four" with all the youthful dreaminess sucked out of it and replaced by an inebriated, middle-aged weariness:

"The tavern's open again
The line-up who light up will surely decide the fate,
Of these incorrigibles
Who plaster their messages up on the interstate...

When she turns 50
I might be dead

But acting happy again
For singing you songs about rush-hour traffic jams,
When the vodka kicks in
A night at the Rockies, digging in for the slam..."

Highly recommended. Sure it's overly dark (except for "How Loft I Am?" which closes the album on a big, bright optimistic note (on the opposite end of the spectrum is "Starboy" maybe their bleakest, most despondent song ever) but it's endlessly listenable. Like an alcoholic haze you can get lost in again and again...Probably not for everybody, but if you're a middle-aged drunk with adventurous taste in music this is going to be your go-to tear-in-your-beer listening...

Here's "The Hard Way" by Guided by Voices...Enjoy...

...oh, and we should probably listen to "Drinker's Peace" too...

One more...How about "When She Turns 50"...

Here's the revised GBV/Pollard ranking list (which is basically a list of GBV albums in reverse chronological order at this point, since Pollard keeps getting better and better during this time period (except the ranking of "Forever Since Breakfast" over "Devil Between My Toes" (which I still consider to be a pretty lousy album). 

1. Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

2. Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

3. Sandbox
4. Forever Since Breakfast
5. Devil Between My Toes

Guided by Voices: Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

Guided by Voices: Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

1989
Halo Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. The Future is in Eggs  2. The Great Blake Street Canoe Race  3. Slopes Of Big Ugly  4.

Paper Girl  5. Navigating Flood Regions  6. An Earful O' Wax  7. White Whale  8. Trampoline  9. Short On Posters  10.

Chief Barrel Belly  11. Dying To Try This  12. The Qualifying Remainder  13. Liar's Tale  14. Radio Show (Trust The Wizard) See, this is one of the reasons I tell folks to listen to Pollard albums a good dozen times before reserving final judgment.  When I first picked up "Box" I would have ranked this one near the bottom, right above "Devil Between My Toes." But over the years, "Self -Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia" has risen in stature for me.  I think this album marks the moment where Guided by Voices completely becomes its own thing. They've learned how to integrate their influences and turn it into their own unique sound. No more REM pastiches.  And it's interesting that this is where GBV becomes a distinct genre in itself, because this album is ridiculously diverse. Maybe because all the seeds of the different facets of GBV are planted here. Pollard's lyrics are also starting to take on the surreal quality that would become his trademark (a quick glance at the song titles confirms this). We also have Pollard's persona shining through at last. The beer-soaked basement rocker who wasn't afraid to fully embrace the weirdness of classic psychedelia and krautrock (but with an uncanny ear for a good, clean hook).  It's also worth mentioning that the polish of "Forever Since Breakfast" and "Sandbox" have been scrubbed away (not forever but for a good ten years) and we're into the raw home-made recordings. But don't take that as these records sound bad. Sure there's audible tape hiss but these are good, clear recordings with a charm all their own. If you've only ever listened to glossy radio music, I'm sure it'll be a huge hurdle but if you've ever laid ears on an 80's indie rock or old school punk rock (or hell, oldies even) record you're not going to be too shocked by what you hear (off the top of my head, I can only think of a couple of Pollard albums where the sound quality is a hinderance, but we'll get to those later. "Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia" isn't one of those.) And we also have our first true-blue, full-fledged GBV classic in "Navigating Flood Regions." From the song's opening (rudimentary) riff, you can tell it has all the trademarks of a GBV anthem. A solid melody, a rocking backdrop, sounds even better live. The dinkiness of the recording quality should theoretically hinder it, but there's so much pure rock flowing through its veins that nothing could blunt its impact.  My other favorites are the lovely Byrds riff in the "The Great Blake Street Canoe Race" (if that song had a stronger chorus it would likely find a place in my all-time top GBV songs). The reverb-drenched "Liar's Tale" also has the ability to give me big fat goosebumps. Again, it's that sense of loneliness, where you're delivering a perfect-pop melody to a hard, uncaring basement wall. There's a sense that he knows nobody is ever going to hear it, so he gives it his all and it gains a weird universalism via its isolation.  There's a few songs on here that seem to divide GBV fans, but I'm all for them. "Chief Barrel Belly" is indeed some ugly ass heavy metal but Pollard's delivery is totally unlike anything else out there. A deliberate cartoonish ugliness. But that chorus is perfect. And I can fully understand somebody being too cool for the sheer whimsy of "Radio Show (Trust The Wizard)" but to me, it captures the unabashed joy of rock n' ridiculous roll. At one point in time, rock music was one of the only musical forms where singing about wizards was a perfectly natural and logical thing to do. But somewhere down the line that sense of wonder had died, but here it was again. Pressed onto 500 copies and sitting in the corner of somebody's room. It makes me laugh and it makes me glad to be alive. There are only a few songs here that I don't really care for. "Slopes of Big Ugly" is based on the ugliest two-note bass riff ever recorded (and does nothing to redeem itself).. And there's something about the vocal delivery and unwieldy melody of  "The Qualifying Remainder" that turns me off.  I'm also not overly nuts about "Dying to Try This" which seems like an experiment in bringing a middle-eastern flavor to acoustic guitar. The sort of thing best buried in an installment of "Suitcase." Other than that, it's all solid stuff. Y'know, for some reason I somehow overlooked "Earful O' Wax" for a decade or so before one day the song decided to reveal its glory to me. I tell you, Pollard is an expert at writing these secret hits. Songs that make no impact at your first round of listens, but when you pull the record off the shelf years later suddenly sound completely different and wonderful. To the point where I had to ponder, "Was this song always on here? How did I miss this?" That's "Earful O' Wax" for me... Enough of my stupid opinions. Let's listen to some rock music. Here's "Navigating Flood Regions" by Guided by Voices...Enjoy... Oh, yea. My soon to become unwieldy Pollard ranking. Here we are so far: 1. Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia 2. Sandbox 3. Forever Since Breakfast 4. Devil Between My Toes So, yes. By a very narrow margin, my favorite GBV album up to this point, beating "Sandbox" by a centimeter, to the point where I almost gave them a tie. Still, I'm giving "Aerial Nostalgia" the edge since it's more original and it better captures the essence of GBV.