Robert Pollard: Not in My Airforce/Tobin Sprout: Carnival Boy

Robert Pollard: Not in My Airforce

1996

Matador Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Maggie Turns to Flies  2. Quicksilver  3. Girl Named Captain  4. Get Under It  5. Release the Sunbird  6. John Strange School  7. Parakeet Troopers  8. One Clear Minute  9. Chance to Buy an Island  10. I've Owned You for Centuries  11. The Ash Gray Proclamation  12. Flat Beauty  13. King of Arthur Avenue  14. Roofer's Union Fight Song  15. Psychic Pilot Clocks Out  16. Prom Is Coming  17. Party  18. Did It Play?  19. Double Standards Inc  20. Punk Rock Gods  21. Meet My Team  22. Good Luck Sailor




Tobin Sprout: Carnival Boy

1996

Matador Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. The Natural Alarm  2. Cooler Jocks  3. E's Navy Blue  4. The Bone Yard   5. Carnival Boy  6. Martin's Mounted Head  7. Gas Daddy Gas   8. To My Beloved Martha  9. White Flyer  10. I Didn't Know  11. Gallant Men  12. It's Like Soul Man  13. Hermit Stew  14. The Last Man Well Known To Kingpin



Two solo albums by GBV's head songwriters released on the same day. This shit is Christmas. 

I guess it could be viewed as a competitive gesture since these releases fall right on the cusp of the big breakup , but it's just as easy to view it as a nice gift (and a memorable record store trip) to the faithful. That's why I'm covering these two together, cos they're inseparable in my mind. Listening to them back to back provides an interesting juxtaposition of the two artists strengths and weaknesses. You get to view GBV pulled apart and view the separated contents. Whee! 

Here's my take. Listening to "Not in My Airforce" shows Pollard as the more experimental of the two, which results in a lower hit-to-miss ratio than "Carnival Boy." But boy, when he hits, he hits. There are very few artists that can match Pollard firing on all cylinders. The highs here (as I hear them, GBV fans tend to have different hits and misses) are the opening run of tracks from "Maggie Turns to Flies" through "Release the Sunbird" which rival any stretch of songs from any GBV album. Every one worthy of the repeat button. I also love the hypnotizing acoustic beauty "The Ash Gray Proclamation" and "Psychic Pilot Clocks Out" which gets my vote as the album's MVP. The moment when Bob belts out, "I FEEEEEL LIFE PASSING ON BY US!" over a rush of fuzzy rock never fails to raise those ol' hairs on the back of my hairy-ass neck. 

The original CD version of "Not in My Airforce" made the album seem more inconsistent than it was by including a 7 track run of acoustic song fragments. The album up to that point is so varied and such a good sampling of Pollard's various modes that the stagnation at the end was always puzzling. The recent vinyl reissue rectifies this by ending the proper album with "Prom Is Coming" and placing the acoustic ditties on a separate 7-inch. Effing brilliant. It makes "Not in My Airforce" a stronger start to finish album and I appreciate the acoustic 7-inch as a little side door full of humble, knotty curiosities. 

Sprout's "Carnival Boy" shows Tobin as being the more sensitive and consistently tuneful of the duo. "Carnival Boy" is a warm, welcoming little album full of instantly appealing little melodies. It sorta reminds me of a little woodlands gnome opening a tiny music box full of crackling, twinkling, winsome songly-songs. And although it's got some stiff competition, it's maybe the best of Sprout's solo albums. There's some really lovely stuff here. Like "Gas Daddy Gas" "To My Beloved Martha," "I Didn't Know" and the spirited Syd Barrett tribute "The Last Man Well Known To Kingpin" that instantly give you an overwhelming rush of comforting nostalgia, even upon first listen. He has a way of nailing the feeling of looking at an old hazy polaroid of bygone days. It's hard to explain...There's also a fine re-recording of "It's Like Soul Man" that loses some of the bassy murk of the original while losing none of the soaring melody. 

I should probably mention that there is some cross-over between Pollard and Sprout's solo outings. Sprout provides backing vocals on Sprout's "Roofer's Union Fight Song" and Pollard plays guitar on Sprout's "E's Navy Blue." And man, when "White Flyer" starts out I could swear to God that it's Pollard singing, but he's not credited as such. It's an incredible approximation...

So ultimately, Pollard's album contains all the rocking weirdness, brevity, and the occasional stumblings into transcendent genius that characterizes the classic-era GBV and Sprout's album contains all the fizzy, poppy warmth that also characterizes the classic-era GBV... That big "POP" sprawled across the cover is no coincidence. There's also something inherently, gloriously  GBV-ish about Sprout's strummy and wandering guitar-lines throughout "Carnival Boy". 

Here are the revised rankings of my personal fave GBV/GBV-related albums. I'm putting Sprout's "Carnival Boy" at number 6. It's a super close toss up between it and "Propeller," but I'm giving "Propeller" the very slight nod due to the grandiosity of its highpoints ("Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox," "Exit Flagger," "Weedking," "Quality of Armor" etc.) even though "Carnival Boy" is the more consistently pleasurable experience. "Not in My Airforce" gets the number 7 spot. There's a bit of a routine feel to it when compared to "Same Place the Fly Got Smashed" which feels like more of an event record to my ears...Even though I'm unsure if the Pollard of "Same Place" could have pulled off something as masterful as "Psychic Pilot Clocks Out" or "Maggie Turns to Flies"...Again, really close call and I can totally understand someone who views it differently...

1. Guided by Voices: Alien Lanes

2. Guided by Voices: Bee Thousand

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

4. Guided by Voices: Propeller

5. Tobin Sprout: Carnival Boy

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

7. Robert Pollard: Not In My Airforce

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

9. Guided by Voices: Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

10. Guided by Voices: Vampire on Titus

11. Guided by Voices: Sandbox

12. Guided by Voices: Forever Since Breakfast

13. Guided by Voices: Devil Between My Toes

Alright, let's check out some music....Here's "Psychic Pilot Clocks Out" by Robert Pollard:

And here's "The Last Man Well Known To Kingpin" by Tobin Sprout...Enjoy...