Guided by Voices: Under the Bushes, Under the Stars

Guided by Voices: Under the Bushes, Under the Stars

1996

Matador Records


Track Listing: 1. Man Called Aerodynamics  2. Rhine Jive Click  3. Cut-Out Witch  4. Burning Flag Birthday Suit  5. The Official Ironmen Rally Song  6. To Remake the Young Flyer  7. No Sky  8. Bright Paper Werewolves  9. Lord of Overstock  10. Your Name Is Wild  11. Ghosts of a Different Dream  12. Acorns & Orioles  13. Look at Them  14. The Perfect Life  15. Underwater Explosions  16. Atom Eyes  17. Don't Stop Now  18. Office of Hearts  Bonus Tracks: 19. Big Boring Wedding  20. It's Like Soul Man  21. Drag Days  22. Sheetkickers  23. Redmen and Their Wives  24. Take to the Sky



Y'know. When I listen to music, I don't often think too hard about it. When I put on "Under the Bushes, Under the Stars" during my normal workdays my thoughts are along the lines of, "Hell, yea! This rocks!" But when I sit and write about it, I realize my feelings on "Under the Bushes, Under the Stars" are sorta all over the place...

First off, it's obligatory to mention that this is the Classic Line-Up's last stand.  Sure, a quick glance at any of their album covers will show they never really had a stable line-up (middle-aged dudes with jobs and families tend to be pretty unreliable band-wise), but when GBV fans think of GBV, they're usually thinking of something that involves Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, etc.  And there is a twinkling, twilight feeling of finality here...Like that weird final night hanging out with your High School buddies before you all have to head off to college or something..I can clearly recall the night this album finally clicked with me: I came home from a long night of delivering pizza. No one else was around, so I fired up the stereo and listened to records all night by myself...So that might be coloring my perception of this album..

This is also where GBV takes the big leap into mid-fi. There's little in the way of obvious flubs, minimal  tape hiss, no mics cutting out, no guitars dropping off the face of the Earth and ending up on the back of milk cartons. It's a  comparatively  polished   performance.  Some of  this can get a little ear-splitting and tinny at times  ("No Sky" particularly crackles during its highs) but the bedroom-rock vibe is greatly diminished and they sound like a relatively normal indie rock band at this point.  

The "Under the Bushes, Under the Stars" album, as intended is a much emptier and less fulfilling experience without the 6 bonus tracks. Now, as far as I know, the album was never issued without the unlisted bonus tracks (the titles themselves are only listed on a sticker) so I personally count them as part of the official track listing. Anyway, my point is, I consider the regular album a mixed experience (generally speaking) but the bonus tracks to be the single greatest run of GBV songs of all-time (minus "Take to the Sky" and maybe that guitar solo on "Sheetkickers"). My God, "Big Boring Wedding" has one of the band's catchiest, coolest and most flat-ass great choruses. And Tobin Sprout absolutely nails "It's Like Soul Man"'s hook to the ceiling. He sings the titular line a few different ways and every single one works. It's so damn sturdy you can do no wrong with it. "Drag Days" sees GBV resurrecting their earlier, "Box"-ier style and out-REM-ing REM. It just calmly, cooly knocks you out as the chiming, jangly guitars shimmer like distant stars. And "Redmen and Their Wives" is probably in my top-five or so GBV songs. At first, that sad, descending guitar riff so perfectly conjures Midwestern loneliness and desperation but by the end there's such an undeniable sense of quiet triumph that you can't possibly help but be moved. One of the best late-night, drink-by-yerself rock songs that I know of.

All this knock out stuff at the end makes "Under the Bushes, Under the Stars" one hell of a back-loaded albums. I like the first five songs just fine but my pants don't get truly knocked off until "The Official Ironmen Rally Song" which I'd argue is one of the band's finest moments. A seemingly humble, melancholy rocker that sneaks up on you with moments of  understated, emotional exultation.  I literally, to this day, get goose-bumps at certain points in this song...To be specific somewhere around the, "Confirmations through the wire, Spitting gas into the fire..." line...When he finally asks if he's worthy of a drink the only proper response is to hand the man a beer...

On the first few listens the album's second half can sound same-y, considering all of the songs are mid-tempo, spangling indie rock. But multiple listens eventually reveal all the subtle hooks and suddenly you'll realize what a treasure trove side two of the record is.  "Underwater Explosions" is breathlessly hooky, "Atom Eyes" has a golden, early autumn glow that greatly appeals to me but the real highlight as a re-recording of "Don't Stop Now" which is a freakin' masterpiece. It strikes me as the pinnacle of the classic era. Swooning hooks carved in sky, lyrics about a pet chicken that becomes a mean old rooster. There are very many songs where people rotely sing about the best time of their lives but GBV goes a huge step further and makes you actually feel that best day of your life...There's this feeling of weightless, wide-open camaraderie and hard-won fun...The feeling of a perfect day (well, as perfect as a day can be in the real world. Right?) actually caught and preserved on tape. Shit like this is why GBV is my favorite band...

Here's the revised ranking. I'm giving "Under the Bushes, Under the Stars" the number 3 spot. Although there are days I probably prefer it to  "Bee Thousand," I ultimately feel like it gets off to a slow start but once it takes off...Hoo boy! A grower worth growing into (that just sounds gross...)

1. Alien Lanes

2. Bee Thousand

3.Under the Bushes, Under the Stars

4. Propeller

5. Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

6. King Shit and the Golden Boys

7. Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

8. Vampire on Titus

9.. Sandbox
10. Forever Since Breakfast
11. Devil Between My Toes

Let's listen to some music. Here's "Redmen and Their Wives" by the Mighty GBV...Enjoy...

Guided by Voices/New Radiant Storm King split 7-inch

Guided by Voices/New Radiant Storm King split 7-inch

1995

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Guided by Voices: The Opposing Engineer Sleeps Alone 2. New Radiant Storm King: I Am a Scientist


One of those fun little split 7-inches were two bands cover each others songs. To be honest, I'd never heard of New Radiant Storm King before I bought this single, but a quick read of their wikipedia page reveals they have ties to the Silver Jews, so that makes them okay in my book...

GBV covers "The Opposing Engineer Sleeps Alone" which is apparently a smart choice, since it sounds indistinguishable from classic era GBV. Just a nice, low-key indie rock single with that murky 4-track vibe that we all know and love. Actually, it reminds me more of pre-classic GBV. Like some hidden gem lurking on "Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia" or side one of "King Shit and the Golden Boys." Not as raucous as "Alien Lanes," now that I think about it but it hums along nicely...

On the flipside we have New Radiant Storm King tackling "I Am a Scientist" which is a bold-ass choice. I don't quite think the band nailed it (it's missing some of glowing sense of triumph that illuminated the GBV original) but it's an enjoyable, alternate take that I like to spin from time to time. It has a little of that 90's slacker indie-rock vibe that I like, where they sound like they're tossing it off a bit. But I love the interpolation of "Non-Absorbing" on that final chorus...

All in all, a pretty cool release. No lost classics here and nothing Earth-shaking occurs but if you have a soft spot for 90's indie rock this will give you a warm, fuzzy feeling...

Let's listen to some music. I wonder if anybody posted this song to youtube? Let's look...Well, golly! Somebody did. God bless 'em. It's one of those fun videos where you get to watch the record spin around. I like those...Here's the Guided by Voices/New Radiant Storm King split...Enjoy...

Oh, yea. I almost forgot to add this to the GBV singles and 10-minute-ish EP ranking. I'm putting this at the bottom. It's  certainly more melodic and easier to listen to than the Freedom Cruise/Nightwalker Split but it's lacking the wicked fun and sense of adventure that release.provided. And it's nowhere near as meaty as the top three...So yea. This is at the bottom for now. I listen to this one much less than the others :

1. Fast Japanese Spin Cycle
2. The Grand Hour
3. Get Out of My Stations
4. The Freedom Cruise/Nightwalker Split
5. Guided by Voices/New Radiant Storm King split 7-inch

Guided by Voices: Alien Lanes

Guided by Voices: Alien Lanes

1995

Matador Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. A Salty Salute  2. Evil Speakers  3. Watch Me Jumpstart  4. They're Not Witches  5. As We Go Up, We Go Down  6. (I Wanna Be a) Dumbcharger  7. Game of Pricks  8. The Ugly Vision  9. A Good Flying Bird  10. Cigarette Tricks  11. Pimple Zoo  12. Big Chief Chinese Restaurant  13. Closer You Are 14. Auditorium  15. Motor Away  16. Hit  17. My Valuable Hunting Knife  18. Gold Hick  19. King and Caroline  20. Striped White Jets  21. Ex-Supermodel  22. Blimps Go 90   23. Strawdogs  24. Chicken Blows  25. Little Whirl  26. My Son Cool  27. Always Crush Me  28.Alright

DIS-Arm the settlers!

This was the album that turned me into a life-long, record store hunting, empty-walleted GBV junkie. This is why I own about a hundred Robert Pollard albums. This is why I spend my hungover weekend mornings writing obsessively about GBV.  I seriously, stone-face consider this to be one of the greatest albums of all-time by anybody. And the odd (and in retrospect unthinkable) thing about it is, I didn't particularly like this album all that much when I first bought it,

Now, this wasn't the first GBV album I had heard. That would be "Mag Earwig." I loved "Bulldog Skin" but was ambivalent towards the rest of the album. Loved some of it, was "eh" on some of it (but we'll get to that another time). So I listened to "Mag Earwig" for years but didn't particularly feel strongly enough about the band to check out the rest of their material. But one day I was at a Media Play (in Saginaw Michigan! Hyup! Hyup!) and saw their well-stocked GBV section and thought, "Y'know, I  kinda like this band...Maybe I'll check out one of these...Hmmm, this one has the most songs on it...I'll go with this one..."

I took it home and threw it on the stereo and read along with the lyric sheet. After my first listen I thought to myself, "A couple of good songs there. Too bad it sounds so shallow and dinky." A day or two later I spun it again and thought to myself, "Actually, about half of this is pretty great. Too bad it sounds so shallow and dinky." Third listen it began to dawn on me that 90% of it was spectacular and I was fairly used to the sound.

But on that  magic fourth listening my brain had completely rewired itself. Those stumbly drum fills had somehow morphed into laser-lit, Keith Moon cannonades. Those overdriven acoustic guitars on "Always Crush Me" had somehow morphed into an "Eleanor Rigby"-esque string quartet. The ever-present tape hiss was suddenly a vast, mysterious  sea filled with endless, drunken wonders...

I have no idea how many times I've listened to this record. I'd say 700 times wouldn't be an exaggeration. Even 20 years later, just looking at that track listing still makes me all giddy.

I guess if you've never heard it, the best explanation I can offer is that "Alien Lanes" is a 40 minute collage of experimental and dangerously hooky, wonderfully brief pop/rock songs. It somehow recaptures the thrill of hearing rock radio as a kid. Everything is bright and big and sing-songy and wonderful and seemingly inexhaustible. A whole new intoxicating world of sensations you don't quite understand but can't resist being a part of...

 "A Salty Salute" is an inspired opening track. It's simple and doesn't seem like much at first, but it somehow summons the camaraderie I always feel at a GBV show...The aural equivalent of the bottle of booze that always gets passed around, with no regard to burning lip sores... 

By my count at least 15 of the best melodies ever written are housed within this record. "Game of Pricks" and "My Valuable Hunting Knife" still give me big, fat goosebumps. It's staggering to me that these melodies didn't exist prior to this album and there was a point in time when "Game of Pricks" wasn't rattling in my head. And oh, yea. A big shout out to that magic moment when "Autotorium" explodes into  "Motor Away." The whole album is a Side-Two-of-"Abbey Road"-level masterpiece of sequencing, but that particular segue never fails to knock my fat-ass in the dirt. Listening to "Motor Away" without "Auditorium" somehow lessens it. Now, that's sequencing. 

And Tobin Sprout is slaying shit this time around. I love "A Good Flying Bird" and "Little Whirl" is one of the greatest twee-pop head-rushes ever laid to Maxell. Really, every song on the album is good. Even the song where some guy snores through the whole thing kinda rules. Even the song where Pollard bb-bb-bb-bb's his lips with his fingers to emulate the leslie effect works like crazy. If I had to pick one weak spot where my attention span wanders I guess I'd have to choose the lumpy acoustic "The Ugly Vision" but even that's only a minute and a half long...

This gets the nod for my personal favorite Guided by Voices album. And I'd be surprised if anything budges that ranking. Listening to it this time around, it struck me that Pollard has never quite done anything like this since...

Here's the updated GBV ranking:

1. Alien Lanes

2. Bee Thousand

3. Propeller

4. Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

5. King Shit and the Golden Boys

6. Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

7. Vampire on Titus

8. Sandbox
9. Forever Since Breakfast
10. Devil Between My Toes'

Let's listen to some music...Here's "Blimps Go 90" by GBV...Enjoy...

Guided by Voices: King Shit and the Golden Boys

Guided by Voices: King Shit and the Golden Boys

1995

Scat Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl & Compact Disc

Track Listola: 1. We've Got Airplanes  2. Dust Devil  3. Squirmish Frontal Room  4. Tricyclic Looper  5. Crutch Came Slinking  6. Fantasy Creeps  7. Sopor Joe  8. Crunch Pillow  9. Indian Was an Angel
10. Don't Stop Now  11. Bite 12. Greenface  13. Deathtrot & Warlock Riding a Rooster  14. 2nd Moves to Twin  15. At Odds With Dr. Genesis  16. Please Freeze Me  17. Scissors  18. Postal Blowfish  19. Crocker's Favorite Song

I know this is totally unrelated to GBV but for some reason I can't stop looking at this photograph of Jedi Master Oppo Rancisis. 

It's the fucking weirdest thing I've ever seen in my life. A surreal, bearded snake-man with haunting, red-rimmed eyes. It looks like he's been awake for the last 200 years,, Just smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee...

Alright, now that I've purged myself of that, let's talk about some records...

"King Shit and the Golden Boys" is a bonus disc that came with 1995's "Box" (which reissued the band's first four albums (well, my CD version anyway, I guess the vinyl version also included "Propeller" but I wear a barrel. Remember?)). They did a standalone vinyl reissue  a couple years ago, which is the vinyl version I have. By the way, "Box" is a damn treasure trove. If you ever run across a copy, don't ask questions. Just buy it. Anyway, "King Shit and the Golden Boys" was the awesomely titled bonus disc of miscellaneous outtakes. And man, is there some cool shit hidden in here. This is easily the best of the GBV outtakes collections (most of these came from the "Bee Thousand" sessions so their high quality isn't too surprising) and I enjoy this more than some of their proper albums. 

Highlights: The opening tracks "We've Got Airplanes" and "Dust Devil" are perfect examples of the sweeter, earlier Pre-"Same Place the Fly Got Smashed" GBV. Nice clean rock with appealing melodies. "Crutch Came Slinking" is a perfect little British invasion number with all kinds of ear-catching backing vocals. Seriously, every single backing vocal choice is spot-on. The best track however has got to be Tobin Sprout's towering "Scissors" where he manages all the melody and pop majesty of Phil Spector on a hissy 4-Track, Absolutely in my top 5 Sprout songs. BTW, this kicks off the odd practice of hiding away Tobin's best songs on B-Sides, EP's and outtake collections, which does make digging through the less well-lit corners of the GBV discography rewarding. Also count me as a huge fan of the pretty acoustic ditty "Indian Was an Angel." I'm always a sucker for that lonesome early GBV stuff. 

Familiars: You get to finally hear full versions of the "Bee Thousand" snippets "2nd Moves to Twin" and "At Odds With Dr. Genesis." The former is a joy and it's great to hear that riff play on for awhile for a change, on the other hand I don' think I'll ever get used to "At Odds With Dr,. Genesis" not cutting off after the "Now heeeere's the Plaahhhhhnnnnn..."  We also get full versions of the "Back to Saturn X Radio Report" snippets "Fantasy Creeps" and "Sopor Joe." Those sloooowed down vocals on "Sopor Joe" always make me laugh. There's an early acoustic version of "Don't Stop Now," that's notable for featuring the world's buzziest guitar string and an acoustic track called "Crocker's Favorite Song" that later is reworked into (gasp!) "Class Clown Spots a UFO." Eff yea! We also get an early version of "Postal Blowfish" that I actually prefer to the later version, which has always sounded a bit light to me. That awesome stop-and-start riff has some real heft to it here. 

There's a lot to like here. Relatively few weak moments and I'll never forget the fun of that first look behind the GBV curtain...

Here's the updated GBV ranking:

1. Bee Thousand

2. Propeller

3. Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

4. King Shit and the Golden Boys

5. Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

6. Vampire on Titus

7. Sandbox
8. Forever Since Breakfast
9. Devil Between My Toes

Fuck ranking shit. Let's rock out for a bit. Here's "Scissors" by Guided by Voices...Enjoy...

Guided by Voices: Bee Thousand

Guided by Voices: Bee Thousand

1994

Scat Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listerine (gargle): 1. Hardcore UFO's  2. Buzzards and Dreadful Crows  3. Tractor Rape Chain  4. The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory  5. Hot Freaks  6. Smothered in Hugs  7. Yours to Keep  8. Echos Myron  9. Gold Star for Robot Boy  10. Awful Bliss  11. Mincer Ray  12. A Big Fan of the Pigpen  13. Queen of Cans and Jars  14. Her Psychology Today  15. Kicker of Elves  16. Ester's Day  17. Demons Are Real  18. I Am a Scientist  19. Peep-Hole  20. You're Not an Airplane




True Story (not that it's fantastically unbelievable or anything): When I first got this album I put it on and about a song or two in, my girlfriend calls. I turn it down slightly and let the album continue to play in the background. We talk for awhile and then she notices I'm not speaking anymore. 
"Hello? Hello? Are you still there?" she asks worriedly. 

"I'm sorry," I reply (awestruck). "I'm listening to the most fucking incredible song I've ever heard..."

The most incredible fucking song I'd ever heard? It was "Echos Myron." Just a magnificent beast of a British Invasion pop song. Its hooks reached across the room and right through my conversation, grabbed my ears and demanded, "STOP EVERYTHING! LISTEN TO ME!!!" (By the way. "Echos Myron" isn't "Echos Myron" to me without "Yours to Keep" attached to it. I never listen to them separate. That moment when "Yours to Keep"s  mournful acoustic picking is pounced by "Echos Myron"'s celebratory opening chords is a magic moment. It just makes the unbridled joy pop that much more. )

When asked what the best GBV album is, most fans will point to ":Bee Thousand." It's probably not my personal favorite, but it's pretty damn close. Here are some of the reasons that "Bee Thousand" resonates with  me:

The locale. Dayton, Ohio 19-something and 4. As someone who grew up in the midwest (in the ashes of the fallen automobile industry) this unexpected setting is endlessly appealing. Lyrically (and often musically) "Bee Thousand" scans to me as being derived from the "psychedelic" era.  Far-out, seemingly nonsensical imagery that nonetheless follows an internal logic and inventing a poetry all its own. Psychedelia (as a musical form (not necessarily pharmaceutically speaking)) works best when juxtaposed against reality. When it offers a view of the world as it is and also helpfully provides a key for escape. Most often psychedelic lyrics were based in a reality that seems alien to me (the tea parties and pictures of the Queen in British psychedelia, the grimey, politicized Haight Street aesthetic of San Francisco psychedelia, the dangerous, shot-gun infested backwoods of Texas psychedelia) but here was fantastic imagery set in an utterly un-fantastic place. (Note: As much as I hear large amounts of psychedelia in these lyrics, there's also the unmistakable presence of bone-dry, post-psych prog.. The sort of profound fantasy nonsense you'd find in a Yes or ELP record. Another reason I love this album). 

The melodies and song-construction are also immensely appealing to me. I remember looking at those Beatles Anthology albums on a shelf at the record store and my mind entertained the thought, "What if these are all outtakes or demos of songs I'd never heard..." My mind reeled at the thought of all the treasures that could be contained within. Where you could rummage through fragments of unfinished greatness. But then I turned the cover over and saw a bunch of different takes of "Strawberry Fields" (still, nothing to scoff at, mind you). Well, "Bee Thousand" is that album I was imagining! I swear to you there are so many songs here that are indeed worthy of the supposedly untouchable icons of rock past...My initial dig through it was like finding a brilliant bootleg of lost Beatles, Who and Yes songs that was only known by a  secret society of tape traders. All covered in beautiful, authentic tape hiss...The fact that "I Am a Scientist" and "Gold Star for Robot Boy" aren't well-known radio staples isn't due to any the band's shortcomings, but the eroded (and stale) taste of the radio-listening pubic...

I also love the confidence they exude on this album. The big opener "Hardcore UFO's" is plagued by guitars dropping out but does anybody go back and punch them in? Fuck no. Why should they?!?! Because it's awesome as is. And after a couple of listens you can't imagine the song without the fuck-ups. And the years of obscurity make a song like "I Am a Scientist" work. There's a real sense of accomplishment there. You can tell Bob knew he was good and when other people started to realize it too, he decided  to do a casual slum-dunk, just to let us know he knows. The other moment where you hear this is on the "Shit yea it's cool..." line in "Echos Myron." 

Bottom line, if you still have a sense of wonder about the colorful world of rock n' roll, you're going to love this record. If thumbing through countless unknown, bizarre and fantastic album covers still gives you a thrill, you're going to love this record. If you treasure the moment when an unexpectedly great rock song comes out of nowhere and slaps you across the head, you're going to love this record. I love the living fuck out of this record. 

Here's the up-to-date ranking. No surprise, "Bee Thousand" goes to the top of the list. The best album they'd made to this point:

1. Bee Thousand

2. Propeller

3. Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

4. Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

5. Vampire on Titus

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

Let's listen to some music. Here's "Queen of Cans and Jars" by Guided by Voices. Enjoy...