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