Guided by Voices: The Freedom Cruise/Nightwalker Split 7"

Guided by Voices: The Freedom Cruise/Nightwalker split 7"

1994

Simple Solution Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Cruise 2. Lucifer's Aching Revolver



Another 1994 release. This appears to be a split EP by two of Pollard's side projects, The Freedom Cruise and Nightwalker. But the sticker on it says GBV, so I decided to file it under GBV...If I remember my Guided by Voices lore correctly, this is Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout getting together for some far out shit...

I have the blue jukebox edition that comes with the big, drilled hole and the jukebox sticker. Man, I hope this record really ended up on a jukebox somewhere. I'm hoping somebody somewhere puts his $0.50 in and hits what he thinks is Night Ranger and Nightwalker comes on instead...

The single is especially sludgy and ugly. "Cruise" is a trudging grind-rocker that sounds like it could have been taken from the "Same Place the Fly Got Smashed" sessions. You can find a much more melodic version of this on "Suitcase" one...Great song when you're in the mood for something dark and unpleasant....

The Nightwalker side takes things even further. A stitched together Frankenstein's monster consisting of amps feeding back and getting turned up and down, sandwiched in between different recordings of the same song. It's like the band is trying to  to turn "Lethargy" into "Good Vibrations." Definitely not for everybody but I sure as hell enjoy it a lot...

Casual fans (if there are any) should probably skip this but this really is one of the more enjoyable of Pollard's "difficult" releases. I think its brevity really helps. 

Alright, let's get to the rankings...Here are the GBV singles and 10-minute-ish EP's ranked so far:

1. The Grand Hour
2. Get Out of My Stations
3. The Freedom Cruise/Nightwalker Split

"The Freedom Cruise/Nightwalker" split is fun but nowhere near the quality of the other two EP's we've covered so far...

I would post a song frrm this for you to listen to, but no one's posted it online yet. I don't really have a way to do it so I guess we're just gonna have to sit in silence...