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....