Guided by Voices:Propeller

Guided by Voices:Propeller

1992

Scat Records

Format I Own it on: That modern marvel, the Compact Disc

Da Track Listin': 1. Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox  2. Weedking  3. Particular Damaged  4. Quality of Armor  5. Metal Mothers  6. Lethargy  7. Unleashed! The Large-Hearted Boy  8. Red Gas Circle  9. Exit Flagger  10. 14 Cheerleader Coldfront  11. Back to Saturn X Radio Report  12. Ergo Space Pig  13. Circus World  14. Some Drilling Implied  15. On the Tundra



Alright, roll up yer sleeves cos we're diggin' into some good stuff...It just struck me that two years passed between "Same Place the Fly Got Smashed" and "Propeller." Two whole years without a GBV album?!?!  As legend has it this was Guided by Voices' first final album. Their last hurrah. The "Last Smiles of the Decomposed" of 1992. 

Because I wear a barrel, I own the 90's Scat Records CD version (but not the "Vampire on Titus/Propeller" twofer I see get talked about a lot. I'm not so sure those two albums are really compatible). But this album originally came out in a limited 500 vinyl copies with cool handmade covers...

The Natty Light one is easily my favorite. The record shop I frequent told me that years ago an original "Propeller" made its way into their store and sold for a whole heap of money. Woe be to my checking account if I ever run across one of these. 

I have no idea about the actual number of songs Pollard has written but since he's put out a 100 full-length albums, I'd say "thousands upon thousands" is a pretty safe number. Out of those thousands upon thousands one of them has to stand out among all the others. One of them has to encapsulate everything GBV is about. What is Robert Pollard's best song? His shining moment? I've mulled this over many times and I kinda keep coming back to "Propeller"'s opening track, "Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox." 

"Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox" has everything. It starts off with as an imaginary GBV live show (I'm not even sure if the band played live shows during this era), with the now ubiquitous chant of "GBV! GBV! GBV!" (when was the last time you went to a GBV show and didn't hear that chant? It breaks out literally ever 10 minutes or so. But it's origins lie in the band overdubbing themselves into a stadium-sized roar. They willed the obligatory crowd chant into existence, which is a fairly ingenious move). It begins as just Pollard delivering a sing-songy hook over a lone guitar (which constitutes a significant portion of Pollard's oeuvre) before the full band kicks in, sounding like the ideal version of themselves. Fuzzy, lo-fi guitars and pure basement majesty. Pollard throws off great melody after great melody (the "It's the things you say, It's the things you do, go right through me..." section seriously gives me goosebumps every time). 

"Hey, let's throw the great party,Today for the rest of our lives.The fun is just about to get started,So throw the switch, it's rock and roll time..."

Where was all the great stadium rock in the 90's? Turns out it was right here. I'm telling you. If the Beatles or The Who had put this song out, it would be lauded as one of the all-time greats...Don't let its relative obscurity fool you. 

And the first 3/4ths of this album are filled with other such highlights (honestly, the only song on the first 3/4ths that I'm not nuts about is "Particular Damaged" which has no discernable melody as far as  I can tell. It's just a repetitive guitar figure with Pollard howling over it). "Weedking" proves that it's possible to capture true grandeur on a small budget. "Quality of Armor" is an ace pop song (My band covers it and one of my proudest moments as a musician(?) was watching a bunch of mohawked tough-punks moshing in a circle to our interpretation of this GBV tune). "Exit Flagger" is another early GBV anthem that no live show is complete without (if you listen to this song and don't feel like you can take on the world afterwords, then you're listening to it wrong). "Unleashed!," "Metal Mothers," it all rules. 

And this is where Tobin Sprout, who would become Pollard's greatest songwriting foil, becomes a real presence.  He really excels at sweet, munchkin-y pop, the first taste of which we get on "14 Cheerleader Coldfront," a simple acoustic track where he and Pollard do some really lovely harmonies. It's all touching and nostalgic while maintaining a WTF mysteriousness. 

If the album didn't slightly falter near the end, it might be in the running for my favorite GBV album. I consider the dividing point to be "Back to Saturn X Radio Report" which is a collage of songs from an aborted album (this track was extremely intriguing in the pre-"Suitcase" era. What were these songs? Where could I get the full versions? There was one section that eluded me forever which turned out to be "Tractor Rape Chain (Clean it Up)"from the Darla 100 compilation). After that there are some cool songs but no flat-out classics. We get "Ergo Space Pig" which appears to be an exercise in making weird noses (fine, but not what I listen to GBV for. I might praise it if it were on a Half Japanese album or something), "Circus World" indulges in some languorous melancholy, "Circus World" is sorta interesting because it reminds me if Kiss attempted a wandering, amorphous melody and "On the Tundra" closes the album on a high note (an understated British Invasion number). 

On the whole, this is a must-have if you're interested in GBV. Definitely a great starting point, since it contains many of the band's finest moments. It's just a great hand-written love letter to the glory of Rock n' Effing Roll. It's been a couple decades since I first heard this and it's never lost an ounce of its magic. Long live Rockathon...

Let's listen to some music. Here's "Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox" by GBV enjoy...

Here is my revised ranking. Each new GBV album is still getting better than the last (except poor old "Devil Between My Toes"...

1. Propeller

2. Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

3. Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

4. Sandbox
5. Forever Since Breakfast
6. Devil Between My Toes

Guided by Voices: Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

Guided by Voices: Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

1990

Rocket #9 Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1.Airshow '88  2. Order for the New Slave Trade  3. The Hard Way  4. Drinker's Peace  5. Mammoth Cave  6. When She Turns 50  7. Club Molluska  8. Pendulum  9. Ambergris  10. Local Mix-Up/Murder Charge  11. Starboy  12. Blatant Doom Trip  13. How Loft I Am?


Alright. This one might actually make it into my top 5 GBV records. Or just outside the edges of that list. I effing love this one. It's a concept album about drinking but not the good timey Friday Night Record Party drinking. This is a night of drinking gone horribly wrong. And the sound and performances are appropriately dark and bleary (yet still packed with stellar melodies).

This album might present a couple of hurdles for new GBV listeners. The band retreats deeper into lo-fi, a good chunk of the album is hard-panned (which means it's not the most pleasant thing to listen to on headphones, but sound good blaring from home stereo speakers) and there's plenty of botched chords and out of tune guitars. Not to mention the album opens with "Airshow '88" which is a tuneless, shouting mess.

But man, is there some fucking great material on this album. Some of my favorite Robert Pollard vocal performances originate here; That second verse of the phenomenally rocking "Pendulum" where the music settles back down after the raucous chorus, but Bob's still all wound up and nails the performance to the ceiling. And "Local Mix Up/Murder Charge" is a brilliant vocal showcase. An epic mystery where Bob delivers the first half with a detached drawl (think John Lennon shell-shocked and drunk out of his mind, "all the pleasure seekers are out there tonight...") to the eventual death scene that shifts from screaming, bemused terror to a sort of humorous, Broadway-ish finish ("...and that's the electrifying conclusion!"). It's hard to believe this is the same guy from just a couple of album's ago. He's got such an expanded emotional range, more fearless in his performances and there's already a sense of self-mythologizing (especially for someone who was essentially recording these as "vanity projects." These were not albums you could go to your local record store and buy.)

Oh, and "Drinker's Peace" which is one of the best GBV songs, hands down. The poorly-tuned guitar sounds three sheets to the wind, and Pollard is appropriately numb. There's just so much regret and sadness.  When I first bought this album, I had to keep repeating the song over and over. Essential GBV for sure.

Other favorites, "The Hard Way" which rocks so much, "Club Molluska" which isn't much to speak of musically, but with that distant buzzing amp and Pollard's unhinged vocal, just glows. Oh, yea! My other favorite song (which is just as good as "Drinker's Peace" (but hardly ever gets mentioned)) is "When She Turns 50." Sure, it's a showcase for botched chording, but it's so sweet, sad and lovely that you can't believe it's not a revered classic you've known and cherished your entire life. The lyrics (and how they're delivered) really get me for some reason, Imagine Paul McCartney (circa the Cherry album) shit-faced yet nostalgic. "When I'm Sixty Four" with all the youthful dreaminess sucked out of it and replaced by an inebriated, middle-aged weariness:

"The tavern's open again
The line-up who light up will surely decide the fate,
Of these incorrigibles
Who plaster their messages up on the interstate...

When she turns 50
I might be dead

But acting happy again
For singing you songs about rush-hour traffic jams,
When the vodka kicks in
A night at the Rockies, digging in for the slam..."

Highly recommended. Sure it's overly dark (except for "How Loft I Am?" which closes the album on a big, bright optimistic note (on the opposite end of the spectrum is "Starboy" maybe their bleakest, most despondent song ever) but it's endlessly listenable. Like an alcoholic haze you can get lost in again and again...Probably not for everybody, but if you're a middle-aged drunk with adventurous taste in music this is going to be your go-to tear-in-your-beer listening...

Here's "The Hard Way" by Guided by Voices...Enjoy...

...oh, and we should probably listen to "Drinker's Peace" too...

One more...How about "When She Turns 50"...

Here's the revised GBV/Pollard ranking list (which is basically a list of GBV albums in reverse chronological order at this point, since Pollard keeps getting better and better during this time period (except the ranking of "Forever Since Breakfast" over "Devil Between My Toes" (which I still consider to be a pretty lousy album). 

1. Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

2. Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

3. Sandbox
4. Forever Since Breakfast
5. Devil Between My Toes

Guided by Voices: Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

Guided by Voices: Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

1989
Halo Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. The Future is in Eggs  2. The Great Blake Street Canoe Race  3. Slopes Of Big Ugly  4.

Paper Girl  5. Navigating Flood Regions  6. An Earful O' Wax  7. White Whale  8. Trampoline  9. Short On Posters  10.

Chief Barrel Belly  11. Dying To Try This  12. The Qualifying Remainder  13. Liar's Tale  14. Radio Show (Trust The Wizard) See, this is one of the reasons I tell folks to listen to Pollard albums a good dozen times before reserving final judgment.  When I first picked up "Box" I would have ranked this one near the bottom, right above "Devil Between My Toes." But over the years, "Self -Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia" has risen in stature for me.  I think this album marks the moment where Guided by Voices completely becomes its own thing. They've learned how to integrate their influences and turn it into their own unique sound. No more REM pastiches.  And it's interesting that this is where GBV becomes a distinct genre in itself, because this album is ridiculously diverse. Maybe because all the seeds of the different facets of GBV are planted here. Pollard's lyrics are also starting to take on the surreal quality that would become his trademark (a quick glance at the song titles confirms this). We also have Pollard's persona shining through at last. The beer-soaked basement rocker who wasn't afraid to fully embrace the weirdness of classic psychedelia and krautrock (but with an uncanny ear for a good, clean hook).  It's also worth mentioning that the polish of "Forever Since Breakfast" and "Sandbox" have been scrubbed away (not forever but for a good ten years) and we're into the raw home-made recordings. But don't take that as these records sound bad. Sure there's audible tape hiss but these are good, clear recordings with a charm all their own. If you've only ever listened to glossy radio music, I'm sure it'll be a huge hurdle but if you've ever laid ears on an 80's indie rock or old school punk rock (or hell, oldies even) record you're not going to be too shocked by what you hear (off the top of my head, I can only think of a couple of Pollard albums where the sound quality is a hinderance, but we'll get to those later. "Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia" isn't one of those.) And we also have our first true-blue, full-fledged GBV classic in "Navigating Flood Regions." From the song's opening (rudimentary) riff, you can tell it has all the trademarks of a GBV anthem. A solid melody, a rocking backdrop, sounds even better live. The dinkiness of the recording quality should theoretically hinder it, but there's so much pure rock flowing through its veins that nothing could blunt its impact.  My other favorites are the lovely Byrds riff in the "The Great Blake Street Canoe Race" (if that song had a stronger chorus it would likely find a place in my all-time top GBV songs). The reverb-drenched "Liar's Tale" also has the ability to give me big fat goosebumps. Again, it's that sense of loneliness, where you're delivering a perfect-pop melody to a hard, uncaring basement wall. There's a sense that he knows nobody is ever going to hear it, so he gives it his all and it gains a weird universalism via its isolation.  There's a few songs on here that seem to divide GBV fans, but I'm all for them. "Chief Barrel Belly" is indeed some ugly ass heavy metal but Pollard's delivery is totally unlike anything else out there. A deliberate cartoonish ugliness. But that chorus is perfect. And I can fully understand somebody being too cool for the sheer whimsy of "Radio Show (Trust The Wizard)" but to me, it captures the unabashed joy of rock n' ridiculous roll. At one point in time, rock music was one of the only musical forms where singing about wizards was a perfectly natural and logical thing to do. But somewhere down the line that sense of wonder had died, but here it was again. Pressed onto 500 copies and sitting in the corner of somebody's room. It makes me laugh and it makes me glad to be alive. There are only a few songs here that I don't really care for. "Slopes of Big Ugly" is based on the ugliest two-note bass riff ever recorded (and does nothing to redeem itself).. And there's something about the vocal delivery and unwieldy melody of  "The Qualifying Remainder" that turns me off.  I'm also not overly nuts about "Dying to Try This" which seems like an experiment in bringing a middle-eastern flavor to acoustic guitar. The sort of thing best buried in an installment of "Suitcase." Other than that, it's all solid stuff. Y'know, for some reason I somehow overlooked "Earful O' Wax" for a decade or so before one day the song decided to reveal its glory to me. I tell you, Pollard is an expert at writing these secret hits. Songs that make no impact at your first round of listens, but when you pull the record off the shelf years later suddenly sound completely different and wonderful. To the point where I had to ponder, "Was this song always on here? How did I miss this?" That's "Earful O' Wax" for me... Enough of my stupid opinions. Let's listen to some rock music. Here's "Navigating Flood Regions" by Guided by Voices...Enjoy... Oh, yea. My soon to become unwieldy Pollard ranking. Here we are so far: 1. Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia 2. Sandbox 3. Forever Since Breakfast 4. Devil Between My Toes So, yes. By a very narrow margin, my favorite GBV album up to this point, beating "Sandbox" by a centimeter, to the point where I almost gave them a tie. Still, I'm giving "Aerial Nostalgia" the edge since it's more original and it better captures the essence of GBV.

Guided by Voices: Sandbox

Guided by Voices: Sandbox

1987

Gotham City Music

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc (cos I'm not a gazillionaire)

Track Listing: 1. Lips of Steel  2. A Visit to the Creep Doctor  3. Everyday  4. Barricade  5. Get to Know the Ropes  6. Can't Stop  7. The Drinking Jim Crow  8. Trap Soul Door  9. Common Rebels  10. Long Distance Man  11. I Certainly Hope Not  12. Adverse Wind


For some reason, I usually see this one pointed out as being Guided by Voices worst album. I have no idea why, really. Maybe it's because Pollard himself has said so and therefore it's so? Maybe I enjoy Big Star-style power-pop more than the average GBV fan does? Maybe I have terrible taste in music and that's why I own so many Phil Collins albums? I dunno. But I love "Sandbox."

First off. I like every single song on it. I'd say about 10 out of these 12 songs are top-shelf fantastic. I can't think of many other GBV full-lengths that have such a high hit-to-miss ratio. For the record, the weak-spots (for me) are "The Drinking Jim Crow" even though it's probably the most GBV-ish song on here. It sorta sounds like "Everywhere With Helicopter" now that I think about it,  but it never comes up with a good chorus like that song did. The other weak spot is "Trap Soul Door," which is just a bit too moody and earnest for my liking, even though I highly enjoy that little "oooo" harmony at the very end. Even though, neither of these songs are bad by any stretch of the imagination. They're just the ones I'm slightly less enthusiastic about. 

Then there are a couple songs that I always forget I love until I re-listen to the album. Songs that I think have a shaky premise but ultimately overcome them. In this category are"Common Rebels" which has a fairly irritating and laughable vocal melody until the last minute or so when Bob suddenly full-throatedly belts it out and you're suddenly forced to appreciate the majesty of it. I also always kinda groan when the hickish cow-punk verses of "Certainly Hope Not" come on, but the chorus (which comes out of  absolutely nowhere) is a thing of beauty, Oh, yea. I should probably point out that Pollard's vocals are especially hick-ish on this record. No fake British accent here. If anything, it sorta sounds like a fake southern accent. 

And the fake southern accent works beautifully on "Every Day," which I place near the top of my all-time favorite GBV tracks.  The best REM song REM never wrote. Just 3 minutes of rural bliss pop. Shopping mothers rushing home to their pretty little houses (and lawns), where the guys blow all their money to put racing stripes on their shitty little cars. I don't know what it is about the song. It just seems to make every right move. It's also the type of song they would never do again, which makes me sad. I always liked it when they attempted to be a burlier version of REM. 

My other favorite on here has to be the album closer "Adverse Wind." When he wants to, Pollard sure knows how to properly close out an album and this is one of his finest examples. That soaring chorus of " I hear you crying, you're only a lifetime away..." sure gets you pumped to hit that replay button, which is my favorite kind of album closer (I've always thought there are two ways to properly close an album. 1. Put 'em through the ringer and exhaust the listener so when they're done they're like, "I am SPENT"  (see "Father Sgt Christmas Card" or (especially) "Inspiration Points") or 2. You save up one last short blast of overwhelming awesomeness (see "Adverse Wind," "Non Absorbing" or "Huffman Prairie Flying Field"). I don't know who's playing that shredding guitar line but they deserve a raise for sure. 

Just a lot of humble, rocking, poppy stuff. Rural indie rock. All beautifully sung with nice shimmering guitars. I can't recommend it enough (even though it's usually everyone's least favorite GBV album). I'd say give it a try even (maybe especially if) you're not entirely sold on GBV. Although the only way you can get it is in a big-ass box set at which point you'd be fully immersed into the deep end of GBV anyway. Oh, wait. They invented the internet and stuff. Just listen to it on youtube...Like this...

Here's "Everyday" by GBV...

oh, and "Adverse Wind." You should probably hear this one too...

Oh, yea. My ongoing real-time Pollard ranking list (from best to least-best):

1. Sandbox
2. Forever Since Breakfast
3. Devil Between My Toes

(this is going to be one absurdly long list once I'm done). 

Guided by Voices: Devil Between My Toes

Guided by Voices: Devil Between My Toes

1987

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Old Battery  2. Discussing Wallace Chambers  3. Cyclops  4. Crux  5. A Portrait Destroyed by Fire  6. 3 Year Old Man  7. Dog's Out  8. A Proud and Booming Industry  9. Hank's Little Fingers   10. Artboat  11. Hey, Hey Spaceman  12. The Tumblers  13. Bread Alone  14. Captain's Dead


Wow! Is that an actual photo of the legendary Big Daddy on the cover? Alright. I'm adding a point for that...

This is GBV's first full-length. Their debut ep was recorded in a real-deal studio, with polished songs and the fidelity of a sparkling demo. This however is a mish-mash of great songs, so-so songs and a bunch of pointless instrumentals that sound like they were recorded in the deepest, dankest basement known to man. But it does creep the band slightly out of REM's shadow and forward into sounding more like the GBV we all know and love and for that it's notable...

The Great: "Hey, Hey Spaceman" is the sort of top-notch pop fantasia they would soon be tossing off left and right. A blueprint for the creamy goodness to come. The opener "Old Battery" is definitely a by-product of their REM obsession but it's so much weirder than REM ever got. It sounds like Michael Stipe with a fork in a light socket fronting Wire. And the melody is catchy. so it earns its place as an early-GBV classic.  "Dog's Out" has a nice-little choppy riff. The sort of thing they would later nail on tracks like "Postal Blowfish" and the chorus actually manages to muster up a bit of grandeur. They also end on a high note with album-closer "Captain's Dead" where they lay some long, nice harmonies over a bit of punkish zip.

Y'know what? After some deliberation, I've decided to toss "Portrait Destroyed by Fire" into the great category. It's one of those songs that took me awhile to warm up to, but I think it's important as the earliest example of the murky, prog that would become an important part of Pollard's repertoire. Plus it gives us an early sampling of Tobin Sprout's impish vocal stylings (again, a small taste of greatness to come). There's just something about  how it evolves from the long moody intro all the way into the fiery finale where Pollard howls the song's title while the flames surround him...A longform (5 minutes?!?!) hazy epic....

The So-So: Theoretically I should love "Discussing Wallace Chambers" and "Hank's Little Fingers" since they're the type of Pollard-pop that I love so much, but I somehow find them even too fluffy and sugary for me (an Apples in Stereo fan!!). This album contains the only examples of GBV pop songs that tip too much into the lightweight category, btw. Going forward there would be sufficient melancholy to counteract even the bubble-gummiest of melodies..."Cyclops" and "The Tumblers" are just sorta forgettable filler (and at two minutes and forty-five seconds "The Tumblers" still comes off as overlong)...

Pointless instrumentals: Yes, the remaining five songs are all pointless instrumentals. If you're a seasoned GBV fan this will seem weird, since I don't even know if they ever released five instrumentals total after this album Which is a practice I'm glad they quickly abandoned. I guess if I had to pick a favorite out of the pointless instrumentals, I'd maybe go with "Crux" just because it has a bit of movement (some rudimentary riffing over the world's boxiest, most card-boardish drum machine) the rest just sort of hum there and feed back ear-splittingly from time to time...

I do find it somewhat charming that GBV decided to half-ass it for their debut album. I mean, at this point nobody even knew they existed, so nobody was waiting with bated breath for their big debut. I mean, why not take that time to write some songs? Ah, well...Keep it Motion, I guess...

Alright...This is going to be a new feature during these GBV/Pollard posts. I'm going to attempt to rank every record (again, that I own. There are a ton I do not) as we go through them (strictly for selfish and academic reasons)...So here we go...

1. Forever Since Breakfast
2. Devil Between My Toes

There...I like "Forever Since Breakfast" slightly more than "Devil Between My Toes." In fact, "Devil Between My Toes" might be among the GBV records I listen to the least...But they would soon remedy it's deficiencies. Still, the great songs I listed above really are worth your time ("Hey Hey, Spaceman" especially)...

Let's stop talking and start listening. Here's "Hey Hey, Spaceman" by Guided by Voices...Enjoy...

Guided by Voices: Forever Since Breakfast

Y'know what? The blog was feeling a little stale. My output has ground to a halt. Let's spice things up, baby! I feel like doing a project. Here's a big one. I'm going to listen to every Guided by Voices/Robert Pollard album I own in chronological order and tell you my thoughts. GBV has long been my favorite band and I'm one of the rare people who feel Pollard hasn't put out enough albums. And with his 100th album coming up, I felt this would be a good time. It's something I love listening to and talking about. Now keep in mind, this isn't anywhere near a comprehensive Pollard list, this is only what I have, but I do have a goodly number of them, so let's get this rolling...




Guided by Voices: Forever Since Breakfast

1986

I Wanna Records/Matador

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Land of Danger  2. Let's Ride  3. Like I Do  4. Sometimes I Cry  5. She Wants to Know  6. Fountain of Youth  7. The Other Place

The band's debut EP. I got this as part of Matador Record's 2003 box set "Hardcore UFO's." Prior to that, the album was so rare and prohibitively expensive that I could only speculate as to what it sounded like, Common critical consensus was that  it was subpar, overly slick and not indicative of what GBV would eventually become. Still I was curious. 

When the EP was finally re-released in 2003, I ran to the record store and bought a copy the day it came out. And even though it was marked Disc 5, it was the first one I tossed in the ol' CD player. And my opinion on it? It sounded like a long-lost REM EP. A fucking glorious long-lost REM EP. I'm telling you, if REM would have put this out, songs like "Land of Danger" and the life-affirmingly catchy "The Other Place" would be revered classics. Stipe and Co would have been on the receiving end of much critical knob-slobbering. 

As for the overly-slick tag? I don't hear it. I guess I could expect such criticisms when GBV were in their lo-fi heyday but I've heard so much Pollard material that is so much slicker than "Forever Since Breakfast" that I hardly notice the fidelity. Some of it sorta reminds me of early 2000's Doug Gillard-era GBV. Very fleshed-out with lots of guitar detail...

The distant vocals and background noise of "LIke I Do" does give us a glimpse of the airy, home-recorded lo-fi that was just around the corner...And it's the only song on the album under 3 minutes (another signifier of things to come). I'm a big fan of "Like I Do," actually. There's something about Bob's melancholy, quieter stuff from the earlier years. Back when he thought no one was listening. There's something especially isolated and lonesome about it all...

Can this EP be counted among the great GBV albums? Hell, no. But it's definitely a good, little listen.  Pollard was already a fantastic vocalist (he has a much sweeter tone here, his voice deepens and gets a bit grit over the next couple of albums) but he hadn't found his own voice yet. I'd call it an indispensable part of the (honorary) REM Discography though.  One of the top 5 REM releases for sure!

Alright, let's listen to some music...Here's "The Other Place"...Enjoy...

The Fall: Slates

The Fall: Slates

1981

Rough Trade Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Middle Mass  2. An Older Lover Etc.  3. Prole Art Threat  4. Fit and Working Again  5. Slates, Slags, Etc  6. Leave the Capitol


A 6-song 10-inch EP (that cost me a little more than I should have paid, but I couldn't resist that glorious cover) but don't let its brevity fool you. This thing is jam-packed with prime Fall. And although there's no big stand-out capital C classic you can really point to, it's one of their best and most interesting releases, because it acts as an exploded view of the Fall....

You get to view all the band's different aspects, from shambling rockabilly corkers ("Fit and Working Again), to bass driven drone rock ("Middle Mass") to spare ominous dirges ("An Older Lover").  The highlight might actually be "Leave the Capital" which is a sneak preview of the upcoming pop-Fall era. The song/play experiment, "Prole Art Threat" is also surprisingly great for it's eccentric structure. 

I really don't have a ton to say about this. It's a fun miniature. Like a well-shaken snowglobe filled with soot. It's the classic line-up (only Brix is the final, missing ingredient at this point), with Marc Riley and Craig Scanlon scratching up a storm on their guitars, the Hanleys tearing shit up on the rhythm section and of course Mark E Smith honking it up over all the madness. A super distinctive sound running at peak efficiency...

Here's " Leave the Capitol" by The Fall...Enjoy...