Guided by Voices: Hold On Hope EP

Guided by Voices: Hold On Hope EP

2000

TVT Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Underground Initiations  2. Interest Position  3. Fly Into Ashes  4. Tropical Robots  5. A Crick Uphill  6. Idiot Princess  7. Avalanche Aminos  8. Do the Collapse  9. Hold on Hope



An EP of "Do the Collapse" outtakes that often gets recognition for being better than the album the outtakes are from. It's also notable that all eight of  "Hold On Hope"'s B-Sides mop the floor with "Hold On Hope" (which, keep in mind, I like).  Loses a point for not including the killer "Do the Collapse" era B-Side "Perfect This Time" though. 

A super fun game is putting together an alternate "Do the Collapse" track listing using this EP for fodder. For example, swapping out "Zoo Pie" and "In Stitches" for "Fly Into Ashes" and "A Crick Uphill" could have made "Do the Collapse" a start-to-finish knockout. Or replacing "Teenage FBI" with "Underground Initiations" as the big opener and so on and so forth...There are endless combinations. 


Almost the whole thing is a highlight. You have "Fly Into Ashes," which is a shimmering/oldies/power-pop slice of perfection that somewhat brings to mind a humbler, more relaxed version of "Things I Will Keep." "A Crick Uphill" is unlike anything else the band ever recorded. A gospel/punk/gospel/indie rock oddity that's oddly uplifting and tends to get stuck in my head whenever I hear it. "Tropical Robots" is the sort of acoustic song-snippet, under-a-minute ditty. The type of thing that you'll find scattered throughout any of the lo-fi-era GBV albums, except this one sound especially sweet for some reason. "Underground Initiations," "Interest Position," and "Avalanche Aminos" are all top-shelf big rock, with "Interest Position" having some exceptionally great harmony vocals from Bob.

 "Idiot Princess" and "Do the Collapse" are old  re-titled "Tonic and Twisted Chasers" rehashes, freshly re-recorded with big budget sonics but I like both. "Idiot Princess" (formerly "Reptilian Beauty Secrets") is maybe the EP's weak point along with "Hold on Hope" (which I usually even forget is on this). 

If you're a GBV fan, don't overlook this one. I remember picking this up when it first came out and expecting so much less. Imagine my surprise when a B-Sides and outtake EP turned out to be 20-minutes of prime GBV. If you're a GBV fan who doesn't have an issue with the TVT-era stuff you'll especially flip for it. Be careful when you're looking for it though and makes sure you're buying the correct version. There are a lot of variations of this, some with less songs (like that black cover version, pictured above)...

Let's listen to some music. Here's "Fly Into Ashes." Enjoy...

Ranking Time: This is where I wish I would have separated the 20-minute EP's from the full-lengths. Cos "Hold on Hope" is, track-by-track stronger than its parent album, but "Do the Collapse" fits in twice as many highlights only due to its running time being twice as long...Let's separate them...Here's the 20-minute-ish EP ranking:


1. Guided by Voices: Sunfish Holy Breakfast
2. Guided by Voices:Hold On Hope EP
3. Guided by Voices:Forever Since Breakfast

This was hard. Again, taken on a track by track basis, "Hold on Hope" EP is better than "Sunfish Holy Breakfast" but as much as I like the songs on this EP, there's nothing quite as monumental as "Jabberstroker" or "If We Wait" which exist on a much higher level. So I'm sticking with this. 

Tobin Sprout: Let's Welcome the Circus People

Tobin Sprout: Let's Welcome the Circus People

1999

Recordhead Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Tuck Everlasting:  1. Smokey Joe's Perfect Hair  2. Digging Up Wooden Teeth  3. Mayhem Stone  4. And So On  5. Making A Garden  6. Vertical Insect (The Lights Are On)  7. Maid To Order  8. Liquor Bag  9. Who's Adolescence  10. Lucifer's Flaming Hour  11. 100% Delay  12. And Then The Crowd Showed Up


Oh yea. I like this one. It's not as initially welcoming as his first two solo outings but it's got an interesting, hermetic quality that draws me in. It's very dry, cold and brittle which lays bare every stumble but it's also oddly compelling to hear Tobin sing about room layouts and furniture in such a stark setting. The warm, fuzziness is mostly gone.  Imagine an eccentric hermit recording a homebrew version of "154" and you're not way off...

There are a couple of so-so tracks (the alright-ish "Smokey Joe"  and the incredibly bizarre "Making a Garden," where Tobin appears to be singing over the waltz setting on a casio keyboard)) but for the most part it's all moody, slightly off-kilter, hummable indie pop. 

Favorites: "Digging Up Wooden Teeth" is incredibly effective. I can't really determine what's the verse and what's the chorus but when he moves back into the verse from the bridge section (y'know the, "How do you expect me to dig wooden teeth?" part?) it just gets me and the ol' arm hairs start standing up... I also love the rickety piano popper "Who's Adolescence," "Maid to Order" also strikes me as super-solid Sprout with subtle hooks landing one after the other, and the closing "And Then the Crowd Showed Up" ends the album on a perfect note. The album suddenly lifts its melancholy  mood and feels celebratory in a warm, relaxed way.  Oh yea, I should probably mention that "Lucifer's Flaming Hour" rules too. Mainly because of those closing "doot doot doot" backing vocals. 

Y'know, I've been listening to this album for 18 years now and I still don't know what to think about "Liquor Bag." The song is ludicrous, with its forced rhymes and Tobin wheezing like some weird hybrid of Tom Petty and ancient Bob Dylan (there's definitely some Wilbury-ness to his vocal performance). I'm simultaneously fascinated by it and repelled by it. I can at least say I've never skipped it, which is more than I can say for "Making A Garden."

Overall, this is a good album and although I don't think it tops the first two Sprout albums, I've probably listened to it more than any other one. It's an interesting listen for sure and the songs get stuck in your head like crazy...

Let's listen to some music. Here's "And Then the Crowd Showed Up" by Tobin Sprout. Enjoy...

This was a hard one to rank. I listen to it way more than "Mag Earwhig!" but it doesn't have any moments as transcendent as "Now to War" or "Jane of the Waking Universe" so I'm putting it right below it. Looking at this list kinda bothers me at this point, cos it makes me out as one of those people who immediately dismiss the "Box" era albums, which (for the most part) I flat out love. I think you'll see the overall standing of those "Box" albums go up as Pollard's output gets a little more diluted during this Fading Captain era...I don't know though. Sometimes as I go through these GBV-universe albums, certain ones will rise in stature and other ones aren't as shiny as I remembered...If I had done these rankings without re-listening to each one as I do them, I think I would have ended up w/ a much different list...

1. Guided by Voices: Alien Lanes

2. Robert Pollard With Doug Gillard:Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department

3. Guided by Voices: Bee Thousand

4.Guided by Voices: Under the Bushes, Under the Stars

5. Guided by Voices: Propeller

6. Tobin Sprout: Moonflower Plastic (Welcome to My Wigwam)

7. Robert Pollard: Waved Out

8. Tobin Sprout: Carnival Boy

9. Guided by Voices: Do the Collapse

10. Guided by Voices: Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

11. Robert Pollard: Kid Marine

12. Guided by Voices: Tonics and Twisted Chasers

13. Guided by Voices: Sunfish Holy Breakfast

14. Robert Pollard: Not In My Airforce

15. Guided by Voices: Mag Earwhig!

16. Tobin Sprout: Let's Welcome the Circus People

17. Guided by Voices: King Shit and the Golden Boys

18. Guided by Voices: Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

19. Guided by Voices: Vampire on Titus

20. Guided by Voices: Sandbox

21. Guided by Voices: Forever Since Breakfast

22. Guided by Voices: Devil Between My Toes 
23. Nightwalker: In Shop We Build Electric Chairs: Professional Music by Nightwalker

Tobin Sprout: Moonflower Plastic (Welcome to My Wigwam)

 

Tobin Sprout: Moonflower Plastic (Welcome to My Wigwam)

1997

Matador Records

Format I Own it on : Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Get Out Of My Throat  2. Moonflower Plastic (You're Here)  3. Paper Cut   4. Beast Of Souls   5. A Little Odd   6. Angels Hang Their Socks On The Moon   7. All Used Up   8. Since I...  9. Back Chorus  10. Curious Things  11. Exit Planes  12. Little Bit Of Dread   13. Hit Junky Dives  14. Water On The Boater's Back



Oh, shit. I was so focused on keeping the Pollard output straight, I missed a Tobin Sprout solo album., so let's check out 1997's "Moonflower Plastic (Welcome to My Wigwam)"...

 This is where the template for solo Tobin Sprout albums gets solidified. "Carnival Boy" felt more like a GBV album where there were curiously no Pollard songs. It maintained the same rickety, snippet-y, defiantly lo-fi spirit. "Moonflower Plastic" is cleaner and more fleshed out, sporting a warm, mid-fi sound. There are two snippet/songs but they are absolutely the exception since everything else clocks in at around the 3-4 minute range.  

Most of the music is either gently rocking indie pop or dreamy piano pop. It sounds like a big block of pleasurable sound on first listen but the fantastic melodies quickly pop out of the mix at around the second go-round. And there are some doozies here. "Angels Hang Their Socks on the Moon" is a real beauty. It's the aural equivalent of the world's biggest, softest, comfiest blanket ever. Starts out in a woozy rush of lo-fi that establishes the verse melody and when the song finally hits it isn't the cathartic rock that you're expecting but a huge, cathartic easiness if that makes sense. It makes you feel like everything is going to be alright forever. 

The other big one is "All Used Up" which is a power-popper with maybe the most excellent melody I've ever heard. That big, never-ending hook just about takes you head off. Again, a song that I don't think I've ever listened to just once. This always gets at least two consecutive  plays.  If  the ridiculously gorgeous "Hit Junky Dives" were one minute shorter, it would also probably reach "two play" status but the 4-minute running time makes it perfectly satisfying. Damn there's some great stuff on here. When I'm searching for music, songs like "All Used Up" are exactly what I'm looking for. So whenever I do find something of this caliber I tend to play the shit out of it...

Revisiting this, I think I'm going to have to say this is my personal favorite Tobin Sprout solo release. It's so unassuming on first listen, but boy is this some beautifully catchy stuff. Slow moving music has to be really good to maintain my attention, since I'm constantly on the verge of falling asleep, but the melodies on this album are so compelling that it easily carries me through. A quiet masterpiece of simple, understated indie rock that I wish could go on forever. I have no idea why there isn't some deluxe, 5-disc 20th anniversary edition box set coming out this year...C'mon! The Verve's "Urban Hymns" got one! Somebody get on this...

Alright, let's listen to some music. Here's "All Used Up" by Tobin Sprout. Enjoy...

That's right. The rankings. "Moonflower Plastic" is pretty high on my list. I effing love ""Waved Out" but "Moonflower Plastic" gives me such a good feeling whenever I listen to it. The ultimate comfort album. And it gets extra points for not having "Showbiz Opera Walrus" on it. I can't put it above "Propeller" though cos there's no song as great as "Over the Neptune" on it. "All Used Up" comes dangerously close though...

1. Guided by Voices: Alien Lanes

2. Robert Pollard With Doug Gillard:Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department

3. Guided by Voices: Bee Thousand

4.Guided by Voices: Under the Bushes, Under the Stars

5. Guided by Voices: Propeller

6. Tobin Sprout: Moonflower Plastic (Welcome to My Wigwam)

6. Robert Pollard: Waved Out

7. Tobin Sprout: Carnival Boy

8. Guided by Voices: Do the Collapse

9. Guided by Voices: Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

10. Robert Pollard: Kid Marine

11. Guided by Voices: Tonics and Twisted Chasers

12. Guided by Voices: Sunfish Holy Breakfast

13. Robert Pollard: Not In My Airforce

14. Guided by Voices: Mag Earwhig!

15. Guided by Voices: King Shit and the Golden Boys

16. Guided by Voices: Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

17. Guided by Voices: Vampire on Titus

18. Guided by Voices: Sandbox

19. Guided by Voices: Forever Since Breakfast

20. Guided by Voices: Devil Between My Toes 
21. Nightwalker: In Shop We Build Electric Chairs: Professional Music by Nightwalker

Robert Pollard With Doug Gillard: Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department

Robert Pollard With Doug Gillard: Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department
1999

Fading Captain Series/Luna Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Frequent Weaver Who Burns  2. Soul Train College Policeman  3. Pop Zeus  4. Slick as Snails  5. Do Something Real  6. Port Authority  7. Soft Smoke  8. Same Things  9. And I Don't (So Now I Do)  10. Tight Globes  11. I  Get Rid of You  12. Life Is Beautiful  13. Messiahs  14. Larger Massachusetts  15. And My Unit Moves



Fading Captain #4. I know you're all going to think I'm completely fucking insane but this is one of my very tip-top favorite Pollard albums. I don't mean just solo albums either. I'm saying I probably like this more and listen to it more often than "Bee Thousand" even...I'm calling it his most consistent album. I can only think of two (very brief songs) that aren't absolute knock-outs (the back-to-back hazy oddities "Soft Smoke" and "Same Things.". Outside of those two questionable minutes the rest of the album is comprised of top shelf stuff. It's kind of a shame they didn't slap the "GBV" name on this thing and get it a larger audience but these types of moves are expected when you're exploring the Pollard-verse. 

This album is Bob singing over Doug Gillard's stellar instrumentals and houses the largest collection of chimy, Big Star power-poppers Pollard's has ever released. So if you're interested in that side of the band, you need this. I'm still not feeling very well and I have to go to Home Depot to pick up some bags of exciting dirt, so I'm making this brief (although I could probably ramble about how fucking amazing this album is all day). Here's a pithy list of my favorite things about "Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department." 

 1. "And I Don't (So Now I Do)" is possibly Bob's finest Alex Chilton tribute. It's probably tied with "Slick as Snails" for the album's best track. "Slick as Snails" is a melodic wonder,  by the way. It's got the easiest, slow-rolling melody I've ever heard. Something about it makes you hang onto every (admittedly bizarre) lyric.  When the line "Gorilla of your dreams..." hits you right in the gut, you know magic is happening....

2. All of Doug Gillard's best riffs are piled here. The lithe, sprightly riffs on "Pop Zeus" and "Messiahs" are hall-of-famers for real...

3. Man. Have you ever shouted along to Bob's "ELECTRIC NEWSPAPER BOYYYY!!!" climax in "Pop Zeus" while delivering actual newspapers? At that point, I didn't know if I'd ever felt more ready to take on the world...

4. On "Port Authority" Gillard actually gets a song out of that one unusable guitar pedal setting. You know the one....When you're going through the settings on a Zoom pedal and suddenly you run across the sound of a sad, addled 1970's robot jabbering away while melting down? It's the wingdings of guitar  settings. No one uses it. Except they use it here and it works...A cool, moody, proggy entry in an album full of shiny pop. 

5. "Life is Beautiful" actually makes good on its promise. Life becomes a little more beautiful when you're listening to it. I was listening to  this on headphones the other day, riding the lightrail to work and looking out the window. And right around the time that angelic  "Death of a Clown"-esque backing vocal occurs the trash-strewn alleys started to glow. 

6. Whether they love, hate or are indifferent to GBV (usually the latter) anytime I show anyone "Do Something Real" they instantly get it. There's something about that oddly-gaited riff that catches the ear. The whole thing rocks so much that the message cleanly punches right through Pollard's usual obfuscated lyrics. 

7. "I Get Rid of You." Bob's vocal harmony when he sings, "The sight of you is starting up a war inside of me..." Beautiful stuff. This song always reminds me of The Doors for some reason...

Alright. I gotta head out. Here are the updated rankings, try not to hate me too much for this one. Like I said, it's my personal ranking and has no regard for historical importance or other people's taste. And I highly recommend making your own list. It's super fun! Yea, I'm putting it at the number two slot. I love everything about this album and next to "Alien Lanes" it's the one I pull off the shelf most often. Infinite replay value. Instantly catchy songs that somehow never lose an iota of their magic even on the 500th playthrough...

1. Guided by Voices: Alien Lanes

2. Robert Pollard With Doug Gillard:Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department

3. Guided by Voices: Bee Thousand

4.Guided by Voices: Under the Bushes, Under the Stars

5. Guided by Voices: Propeller

6. Robert Pollard: Waved Out

7. Tobin Sprout: Carnival Boy

8. Guided by Voices: Do the Collapse

9. Guided by Voices: Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

10. Robert Pollard: Kid Marine

11. Guided by Voices: Tonics and Twisted Chasers

12. Guided by Voices: Sunfish Holy Breakfast

13. Robert Pollard: Not In My Airforce

14. Guided by Voices: Mag Earwhig!

15. Guided by Voices: King Shit and the Golden Boys

16. Guided by Voices: Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

17. Guided by Voices: Vampire on Titus

18. Guided by Voices: Sandbox

19. Guided by Voices: Forever Since Breakfast

20. Guided by Voices: Devil Between My Toes 
21. Nightwalker: In Shop We Build Electric Chairs: Professional Music by Nightwalker

Alright. Enough rankings. Let's listen to some music. Here's "Pop Zeus" by Robert Pollard With Doug Gillard. Enjoy....