Guided by Voices: Mag Earwhig!

Guided by Voices: Mag Earwhig!

1997

Matador Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1.Can't Hear the Revolution  2. Sad If I Lost It  3. I Am a Tree  4. The Old Grunt  5. Bulldog Skin  6. Are You Faster?  7. I Am Produced  8. Knock 'Em Flyin'  9. Not Behind the Fighter Jet   10. Choking Tara  11. Hollow Cheek  12. Portable Men's Society  13. Little Lines  14. Learning to Hunt  15. The Finest Joke Is Upon Us  16. Mag Earwhig!  17. Now to War  18. Jane of the Waking Universe  19. The Colossus Crawls West  20. Mute Superstar  21. Bomb in the Bee-Hive


The first post-classic line-up album. Pollard uses Cleveland-based band Cobra Verde as his new backing band, although the old band is still lurking in the album's fringes. Tobin Sprout made it pretty far into the sessions, taking some of the songs he wrote for the album over to his "Moonflower Plastic" album.  This also happens to be the first GBV album I'd ever heard. Y'see, I was watching MTV one day and happened to catch the video for "Bulldog Skin." It's no surprise I immediately liked "Bulldog Skin," because underneath my slick, Bipedal, city-dwelling exterior beats the deep-fried heart of a backwoods hick, steeped in Molly Hatchet 8-tracks, Hee-Haw re-runs and FM radio. So the twangy, hick-ish southern-rocking "Bulldog Skin" was right up my alley. 

Looking back on my initial impressions of the album always amuses me. I can kinda feel for the people who can't quite wrap their heads around Pollard's prodigious output.I remember being head over heels knocked out by half of it ("Bulldog Skin," "Jane of the Waking Universe,""I Am a Tree") and found the other half completely inscrutable. I can recall listening to "The Old Grunt," "Hollow Cheek," "The Colossus Crawls West," the title track, etc and thinking they were sort of a bizarre, tuneless spoken word. It sounded like an old man rambling over random nonsense. And I could almost smell cigarette smoke when I listened to these songs...I had no idea that someday Pollard would constitute roughly 70% of my listening habits...

Listening to it now, I think it's a slight step back from "Under the Bushes, Under the Stars" but still solid and enjoyable. This marks the point where GBV's sound shifts from whimsical, slightly-psychedelic indie rock to a crunchier hard rock. Less Beatles, more Who. Like all the cheap beer was finally kicking in. And boy, did Pollard hit the jackpot with new guitarist Doug Gillard, who was the only member from the Cobra Verde lineup to last (he's still in the band, I think). He's very melodic and rocking and adept at reeling off succinct, memorable little guitar solos. The nimble riffs in "I Am a Tree" and the solo on "Bulldog Skin" are on a whole nother level when contrasted with previous GBV albums. 

Favorites: "I Am a Tree" rocks harder and more skillfully than ever before. "Jane of the Waking Universe" feels like the classic lineup going supernova in one final, cataclysmic blast of warm poppiness. I'm also adding "Now to War" to my official pile of "Greatest GBV songs." Bob hadn't done anything like this in a long while. It's a lonely, acoustic meditation on drinking and isolation that brings back the sorrowful solitude that made me fall in love with the "Box" era stuff in the first place. A damn masterpiece, in my opinion. I also have to point out "The Finest Joke Is Upon Us" which is a song that took 20 years for its greatness to sink in! Seriously! I first heard this song back in '97 and was always kinda, "eh" about it until last year I was listening to the single version on the "Hardcore UFO's" boxset when the song suddenly morphed before my ears into the biggest pile of beautiful hooks I'd ever heard! Pollard's stuff can sometimes take a while to sink in but this is ridiculous... "Choking Tara" is a beauty too, although I prefer the full-band "creamy" version released elsewhere...

Weak spots: Surprisingly few. It's relative drumlessness works against it somewhat. I think having the "creamy" version of "Choking Tara" might have helped. I've also always felt like the album doesn't really kick in until "I Am a Tree," with the first two songs having an introductory build up feel.

Overall, this album is almost like a big, flat, even plane. Not much stands out but there are no low points either. I think it's why I often overlook it. I don't pull it off the shelf much, but when I do I always think to myself, "Oh, yea. Why don't I listen to this one more?"  It feels very transitional. It has a little bit of the warm, comforting glow of the classic line-up and a bit of the bombastic sheen of the Gillard era. You can feel Pollard wanting to go bigger but not quite committing to it 100% yet, which gives the album an interesting and distinctive feel. This marked the end of the Cobra Verde line-up. Everyone except for Gillard gets replaced for the next album, which is a whole nother ball o' wax...

Alright. Let's listen to some music. Here's "Now to War" by Guided by Voices. Enjoy...

Here's the revised rankings. I'm putting "Mag Earwhig!" slightly below "Not in My Airforce" and slightly above "King Shit."  It doesn't have the effortlessness that "Not in My Airforce" exudes but it's more consistent than "King Shit" (which is fairly ass-kicking collection of outtakes). 

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. Guided by Voices: Tonics and Twisted Chasers

8. Guided by Voices: Sunfish Holy Breakfast

9. Robert Pollard: Not In My Airforce

10. Mag Earwhig!

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

12. Guided by Voices: Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

13. Guided by Voices: Vampire on Titus

14. Guided by Voices: Sandbox

15. Guided by Voices: Forever Since Breakfast

16. Guided by Voices: Devil Between My Toes

Guided by Voices: Tonics and Twisted Chasers

Guided by Voices: Tonics and Twisted Chasers

1996

Rockathon Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Satellite  2. Dayton, Ohio—19 Something and 5  3. Is She Ever?  4. My Thoughts Are a Gas (Fucked Up Version)  5. Knock 'Em Flyin'  6. Top Chick Silver Chord  7. Key Losers  8. Ha Ha Man  9. Wingtip Repair  10. At the Farms  11. Unbaited Vicar of Scorched Earth  12. Optional Bases Opposed  13. Look, It's Baseball  14. Maxwell Jump"  15. The Stir-Crazy Pornographer  16. 158 Years of Beautiful Sex  17. Universal Nurse Finger  18. Sadness to the End  19. Reptilian Beauty Secrets  Bonus Tracks: 20. Long as the Block Is Black  21. Jellyfish Reflector  22. The Kite Surfer  23.Girl from the Sun  24. The Candyland Riots


I don't think this album ever made it to stores. I bought the CD copy with the bonus tracks off the Rockathon website back in the late 90's.  This was released after "Under the Bushes, Under the Stars" but I seem to recall a Robert Pollard interview where he states this was the quickly recorded follow-up to "Alien Lanes." Although,that information always struck me as strange, since it contains a song ("Knock "em Flyin'") that would appear on "Mag Earwig" which was released shortly after this. Who knows. Either way, this is technically the final GBV album (pre-reunion) that features Tobin Sprout as a full band member, so it's remarkable in that regard. I think this album is pretty much nothing but Pollard, Sprout and a drum machine. It's very minimalist and subdued compared to the other GBV albums from this time period. It actually sorta sounds like a Tobin Sprout solo album with Bob singing, if that makes sense...

The big, fat classic (and another one I'll toss on the "Best GBV song" pile (along w/ the 20 others I've mentioned so far) is "Dayton, Ohio—19 Something and 5" which is the ultimate distillation of their nostalgia. A wonderful, hazy place where one decade runs into another (as long as that decade starts with a 19 and ends in a 5) as you enjoy the simple pleasures in life: Fried foods, running through sprinklers, and although it's never explicitly stated I'm sure light beer is in there somewhere too...Still the band is canny enough to throw a couple of junkies in the picture for contrast. Some pain bringing the good times into sharper focus...And that simple, repetitive guitar riff...Forever climbing and falling...Yea, a definite favorite. I can't tell you how many drunken Friday nights I've spent saying, "Let's play that one again..." Another song that hits the nostalgia button for me is "Look, It's Baseball" which perfectly captures the feeling of waking up in the back of your Parent's car and groggily looking out at some mundane wonder that you're not cynical enough to take for granted yet...

Best Tracks: The aforementioned "Dayton, Ohio—19 Something and 5" for sure, with the moody "At the Farms" (which resolves into a low-key, yet triumphant climax (which was becoming a GBV trademark by this point)) coming in at a close second. Also toss in the acoustic beauty "The Key Losers," the super-fun "Ha Ha Man," "Unbaited Vicar of Scorched Earth," "Opposition Bases Opposed"...Really a lot of good shit here..."Loads of creamy music and lots of time to make it," as Bob succinctly put it on "158 Years of Beautiful Sex"...  I absolutely recommend finding the version with the bonus tracks, since they're all excellent.  I consider "Long as the Block Is Black," the sleazy rocker "Jellyfish Reflector" and "Girl From the Sun" (which contains the killer lyric, "People who live in glass houses should get stoned!") to be essential GBV tracks...  

Weak Spots: Yea, a few. Oddly enough, the opening track (usually one of GBV's strengths) is one of the weakest songs here..."Satellite" is just a bunch of honking ill-fitting riffs with Pollard doing his best to find a workable melody in this thing but not really succeeding. The version of "My Thoughts Are a Gas" included here is a million miles removed from the creamy goodness of the "What's Up Matador" version. This version is a shouted mess, but at least it's interesting... I've also always felt that Tobin needed another minute or two to work out "Sadness to the End" but it still mostly works...

Overall, this album was much better than what I was expecting from a fan-club-only release..It has a real "anything goes" feel that makes the moments where they land a direct hit especially rewarding... It also works as a perfect, final reminder of all the simple pleasures that made this era of GBV so  great...

Hey! It's Friday night! Let's bust out the beer...

...and rock out to some GBV...Here's "Dayton, Ohio—19 Something and 5"...Be sure to play it at least 3 times in a row...

'

Alright, here's the revised ranking...I'm putting this one pretty high...Just below "Same Place" and right above "Sunfish." I think outside of "Dayton, Ohio—19 Something and 5" the highs aren't as high as "Sunfish," but the generous length works in "Tonics and Twisted Chasers"s favor...

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. Guided by Voices: Tonics and Twisted Chasers

8. Guided by Voices: Sunfish Holy Breakfast

9. Robert Pollard: Not In My Airforce

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

11. Guided by Voices: Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

12. Guided by Voices: Vampire on Titus

13. Guided by Voices: Sandbox

14. Guided by Voices: Forever Since Breakfast

15. Guided by Voices: Devil Between My Toes 

Guided by Voices: Sunfish Holy Breakfast/Plantations of Pale Pink

Guided by Voices: Sunfish Holy Breakfast

1996

Matador Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Jabberstroker  2. Stabbing a Star  3. Canteen Plums  4. Beekeeper Seeks Ruth  5. Cocksoldiers and Their Postwar Stubble  6. A Contest Featuring Human Beings  7. If We Wait  8. Trendspotter Acrobat  9. The Winter Cows  10. Heavy Metal Country



Guided by Voices: Plantations of Pale Pink

1996

Matador Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Systems Crash  2. Catfood on the Earwig  3. The Who vs. Porky Pig  4. A Life in Finer Clothing  5. The Worryin' Song  6. Subtle Gear Shifting


"Sunfish Holy Breakfast" is a 1996 EP that I sorta consider an album, since it's over 20 minutes, which means it's only 5 minutes shorter than say, "Sandbox." Considering most other GBV EP's run around the 10 minute mark, I tend to think if it as a mini-album...

This was released the same day as the 12-minute "Plantations of Pale Pink" EP (which also has a naked dude on the cover. Although the Pale Pink guy isn't as well-fed as the Sunfish hippies). Theoretically, they could have combined the two releases and put out a curiously patchy (but still interesting) full-length. These releases see the band squarely back in "lo-fi" territory after the cleaner recording of "Under the Bushes, Under the Stars" and the two solo albums.  I dunno, maybe some of this was recorded prior to those works? Maybe their home-recorded qualities are the reason they weren't' released as a full-length?  Of the two releases "Sunfish Holy Breakfast" is the clear winner even though "Plantations" boasts "The Worryin' Song" which is fucking amazing, for sure...It's just Bob and a guitar but it turns unexpectedly epic when Pollard sings:

"And that's what bothers me Like my father before meAnd the mothers that bore me..."

The guitar and Bob are just playing off of each other perfectly at that point, with big, sweeping strums punctuating the proclamations.  Just a head-slappingly great moment. Oh yea. And "Systems Crash" has a wonderful hook. The rest of the of  "Plantations of Pale Pink" EP is oddly hookless...It's mostly churning, noisy, psychedelic rock...Interesting, but not on the level of "Sunfish" which has a handful of all-time classics on it...

"Sunfish Holy Breakfast" kicks off with my all-time favorite Tobin Sprout track, "Jabberstroker." The song begins with someone boisterously shouting, "One more!" to a flurry of handclaps that always bring to mind the introduction of "Over the Neptune/Mesh  Gear Fox." This imaginary crowd sounds much smaller, which makes sense considering "Jabberstroker" is a much more intimate production that the laser-lit "Over the Neptune." The song is just Tobin and a clankety electric guitar, but the results are mesmerising. The melody is his most solid and his performance is completely enigmatic. To this day I still don't exactly know what is being sung but I hang on to every word...

The remainder of the EP largely follows the "just guitar and vocals" template, but most of them are so catchy you hardly notice the lack of drums (Jim Greer's "Trendspotter Acrobat" is pretty rough though...If ever you're questioning the writing and performing abilities of Pollard and Sprout, spin this real quick and it'll readjust your alignment).  The other big classic here is "If We Wait" which is a lovely, stumbling "Rubber Soul"-esque 6/8 acoustic rocker. Bob's vocal is really sweet-sounding and hits you right in the feelies...

I'll also single out "Cocksoldiers and Their Postwar Stubble" as a minor classic. Slow, syrupy, grand. I like it. The noisy, scratchy "Stabbing a Star" feels like it could have wandered over from "Plantations" (I think this song is about anal sex or something with all the talk of shallow manholes, rockets in molasses, star-stabbing, fur rubbing, etc) but its inclusion early on "Sunfish Holy Breakfast" livens the EP up, I think. Let's hear it for rocking without abandon...

So yea, two more GBV albums released on the same day...Pollard would continue this practice a couple more times throughout his career. I think "Plantations of Pale Pink" is skippable (as long as you track down "The Worryin' Song") but "Sunfish Holy Breakfast" is a must-have...

So let's update the rankings...Today we get one item added to the "Full-Length and 20-minute-ish EP's" category and one to the "Singles and 10-Minute-ish EP's" category...I'm putting "Sunfish" between "Same Place the Fly Got Smashed" and "Not in My Airforce." It just has that classic GBV glow that appears only sporadically on "Not In My Airforce." 

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. Guided by Voices: Sunfish Holy Breakfast

8. Robert Pollard: Not In My Airforce

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

10. Guided by Voices: Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

11. Guided by Voices: Vampire on Titus

12. Guided by Voices: Sandbox

13. Guided by Voices: Forever Since Breakfast

14. Guided by Voices: Devil Between My Toes 

"Plantations" has the # 5 spot on the singles/super short EP's list...I personally think the "Freedom Cruise/Nighwalker" split is more fun. 

1. Fast Japanese Spin Cycle
2. The Grand Hour
3. Get Out of My Stations
4. The Freedom Cruise/Nightwalker Split
5. Plantations of Pale Pink
6.. Guided by Voices/New Radiant Storm King split 7-inch

Alright. Let's listen to some music...Here's "Jabberstroker" by GBV...

..and "The Worryin' Song" by GBV...Enjoy...

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...

Guided by Voices: Under the Bushes, Under the Stars

Guided by Voices: Under the Bushes, Under the Stars

1996

Matador Records


Track Listing: 1. Man Called Aerodynamics  2. Rhine Jive Click  3. Cut-Out Witch  4. Burning Flag Birthday Suit  5. The Official Ironmen Rally Song  6. To Remake the Young Flyer  7. No Sky  8. Bright Paper Werewolves  9. Lord of Overstock  10. Your Name Is Wild  11. Ghosts of a Different Dream  12. Acorns & Orioles  13. Look at Them  14. The Perfect Life  15. Underwater Explosions  16. Atom Eyes  17. Don't Stop Now  18. Office of Hearts  Bonus Tracks: 19. Big Boring Wedding  20. It's Like Soul Man  21. Drag Days  22. Sheetkickers  23. Redmen and Their Wives  24. Take to the Sky



Y'know. When I listen to music, I don't often think too hard about it. When I put on "Under the Bushes, Under the Stars" during my normal workdays my thoughts are along the lines of, "Hell, yea! This rocks!" But when I sit and write about it, I realize my feelings on "Under the Bushes, Under the Stars" are sorta all over the place...

First off, it's obligatory to mention that this is the Classic Line-Up's last stand.  Sure, a quick glance at any of their album covers will show they never really had a stable line-up (middle-aged dudes with jobs and families tend to be pretty unreliable band-wise), but when GBV fans think of GBV, they're usually thinking of something that involves Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, etc.  And there is a twinkling, twilight feeling of finality here...Like that weird final night hanging out with your High School buddies before you all have to head off to college or something..I can clearly recall the night this album finally clicked with me: I came home from a long night of delivering pizza. No one else was around, so I fired up the stereo and listened to records all night by myself...So that might be coloring my perception of this album..

This is also where GBV takes the big leap into mid-fi. There's little in the way of obvious flubs, minimal  tape hiss, no mics cutting out, no guitars dropping off the face of the Earth and ending up on the back of milk cartons. It's a  comparatively  polished   performance.  Some of  this can get a little ear-splitting and tinny at times  ("No Sky" particularly crackles during its highs) but the bedroom-rock vibe is greatly diminished and they sound like a relatively normal indie rock band at this point.  

The "Under the Bushes, Under the Stars" album, as intended is a much emptier and less fulfilling experience without the 6 bonus tracks. Now, as far as I know, the album was never issued without the unlisted bonus tracks (the titles themselves are only listed on a sticker) so I personally count them as part of the official track listing. Anyway, my point is, I consider the regular album a mixed experience (generally speaking) but the bonus tracks to be the single greatest run of GBV songs of all-time (minus "Take to the Sky" and maybe that guitar solo on "Sheetkickers"). My God, "Big Boring Wedding" has one of the band's catchiest, coolest and most flat-ass great choruses. And Tobin Sprout absolutely nails "It's Like Soul Man"'s hook to the ceiling. He sings the titular line a few different ways and every single one works. It's so damn sturdy you can do no wrong with it. "Drag Days" sees GBV resurrecting their earlier, "Box"-ier style and out-REM-ing REM. It just calmly, cooly knocks you out as the chiming, jangly guitars shimmer like distant stars. And "Redmen and Their Wives" is probably in my top-five or so GBV songs. At first, that sad, descending guitar riff so perfectly conjures Midwestern loneliness and desperation but by the end there's such an undeniable sense of quiet triumph that you can't possibly help but be moved. One of the best late-night, drink-by-yerself rock songs that I know of.

All this knock out stuff at the end makes "Under the Bushes, Under the Stars" one hell of a back-loaded albums. I like the first five songs just fine but my pants don't get truly knocked off until "The Official Ironmen Rally Song" which I'd argue is one of the band's finest moments. A seemingly humble, melancholy rocker that sneaks up on you with moments of  understated, emotional exultation.  I literally, to this day, get goose-bumps at certain points in this song...To be specific somewhere around the, "Confirmations through the wire, Spitting gas into the fire..." line...When he finally asks if he's worthy of a drink the only proper response is to hand the man a beer...

On the first few listens the album's second half can sound same-y, considering all of the songs are mid-tempo, spangling indie rock. But multiple listens eventually reveal all the subtle hooks and suddenly you'll realize what a treasure trove side two of the record is.  "Underwater Explosions" is breathlessly hooky, "Atom Eyes" has a golden, early autumn glow that greatly appeals to me but the real highlight as a re-recording of "Don't Stop Now" which is a freakin' masterpiece. It strikes me as the pinnacle of the classic era. Swooning hooks carved in sky, lyrics about a pet chicken that becomes a mean old rooster. There are very many songs where people rotely sing about the best time of their lives but GBV goes a huge step further and makes you actually feel that best day of your life...There's this feeling of weightless, wide-open camaraderie and hard-won fun...The feeling of a perfect day (well, as perfect as a day can be in the real world. Right?) actually caught and preserved on tape. Shit like this is why GBV is my favorite band...

Here's the revised ranking. I'm giving "Under the Bushes, Under the Stars" the number 3 spot. Although there are days I probably prefer it to  "Bee Thousand," I ultimately feel like it gets off to a slow start but once it takes off...Hoo boy! A grower worth growing into (that just sounds gross...)

1. Alien Lanes

2. Bee Thousand

3.Under the Bushes, Under the Stars

4. Propeller

5. Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

6. King Shit and the Golden Boys

7. Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

8. Vampire on Titus

9.. Sandbox
10. Forever Since Breakfast
11. Devil Between My Toes

Let's listen to some music. Here's "Redmen and Their Wives" by the Mighty GBV...Enjoy...

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