Sunday, June 11, 2017

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...


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