About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 2000)
PHOTO BY JASON THRASHER GUIDED BY YOKES: STILL DOING THE (OUAPSE T he unpredictability of Guided By Voices' ener getic main man Robert Pollard has delighted his admirers for over fifteen years. In addi tion to using an ever-changing cast of collabora tors in GBV, he has run a sideline pop-rock solo project and collaborated with colleagues. Most importantly, he has carried the torch for pure rock and roll songcraft and pure rock and roll perfor mance; he has shown the way for a younger gen eration of music-minded kids too sharp and assertive to fall for whatever MTV, commercial radio and the advertising world dictates as vital and hip. Formed by singer-songwriter Pollard in Dayton, Ohio in 1983, Guided By Voices began as a hobby more or less. With Pollard's brother Jim and Tobin Sprout on guitars and various other instruments, the trio evolved into a full band with the recruitment of gui tarist Mitch Mitchell, drummer Kevin Fennell and bassist Don Toohey. The group basically spent its time jam ming in a crowded garage, drinking cheap lager and endlessly recording song sketches on inexpensive tape decks. Hugely influenced by such British Invasion bands as The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks and early-era Pink Floyd as well as post-punk bands like The Jam, Cheap Trick and The Buzzcocks, the band stood out as a misfit in the relatively drab Dayton rock scene. GBV was composing rock songs deeply rooted in catchy hooks, inventive lyrical phrasing and—most impor tantly—melody. Only in recent year: has the band's work gained any recognition outside the Ohio state borders. After limited-edition albums and singles all sold out, the breakthrough was achieved in 1993 with the band's seventh album, a lo- fidelity gem filled with extremely brief songs (with impenetrable titles) called Vampire On Titus. It was GBV's first for New York label Matador, and the first release in the UK. While scarcely any more accessible or slick, the following albums—1994's Bee Thousand, 1995's Alien Lanes and 1996's Under The Bushes Under The Stars—benefited from the greater resources available to them. GPV toured extensively through those years and established an extremely loyal fol lowing across the U.S. and Europe. Soon, young garage bands were busily learning the chords and lyrics to such GBV ‘'hits" as "I Am A Scientist," "My Valuable Hunting Knife," "Motor Away" and "Striped White Jets." Guided By Voices was seen by audiences and critics as a wild and eccentric pop band eager to crank it up and rock out Live shows regularly fea tured a beer-steeped Robert Pollard dressed in dungarees, sneakers and vintage button-down. Miller High Life in hand, humorously introducing and counting off every next song from the mas sive set list kicking his leg high in the air at just the right time and—despite the shamble—hitting every high and low note with precision. After a rotation of bass players, including Jim Greer and Greg Demos and fill-in drummer Don Thrasher, the "classic line-up" essentially broke up following the release of Under The Bushes, Under The Stars. Robert Pollard continued to use the band name on a subsequent album, 1997*5 Mag Earwhig!, which he recorded with the Ohio rock band Cobra Verde, which also toured with Pollard to promote the album. The collection had an unusually shiny sound and detoured from the loosely-executed playing style and tape-hiss noise of previous releases. Despite the radio and "120 Minutes" success of.the semi-hit tune "Bulldog Skin," the collection was generally regarded as one of GBV's more uneven efforts. Through '97, '98 and '99, the ringleader released a few odd solo efforts under his own name on Matador and his label ca'led The Fading Captain Series—the most recent of which is a col laboration with Cobra Verde/GBV guitarist Doug Gillard titled Always Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department. In late '98, Pollard re-enlisted Gillard, hired studio producer Ric Ocasek—the well-known frontman out of The Cars who recently produced alt-rock phenomenon Weezer—and assembled the new GBV album Do The Collapse. It was Guided by Voices' first album since jumping ship from Matador Records to TVT — a major label that seems determined to turn cult hero Pollard into a household nar.<e. Unlike the elegantly shabby Matador albums, Do The CcUapse was a fuU-ste?m- ahead studio project replete with synthesizer, crystal-dear production quality and drum sounds and fully-developed songs that docked in at ovei four minutes. The collection of strong pop ballads, weird rockers and experimental dirges was a shock to many hardcore GBV fans and further fueled already raging arguments over the merits of "Old GBV" and "New GBV" line-ups. After a successful pre-release mini-tour and a rousing outdoor performance at last year's SXSW Music Conference in Austin. Texas, Pollard regrouped with Gillard and Nate Farley on guitars (both of whom play in a side projed called GEM), ex-Breeder Jim Macpherson on drums and Ohio pal Tim Tobias on bass. The current line-up has toured almost non-stop behind Do The Collapse since its release last summer. So far, few if any fans at shows have yelled "Sell out!" over the band's recent success. "I can't imagine anyone not wanting a hit single," Pollard explained in a recent radio inter view. "I know some people have that punk rock attitude or that kind of anti-industry stance — Wre not going to do that, that's not the kind of game we play* — but anyone, as long as it's on your own terms and it sounds like your band and you haven't really sold out and changed things drastically, sure you'd like to have a hit That's not selling out" Ballard Lesemann WHO: Guided By Voices, The American Flag WHERE: 40 Watt Club WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 22 HOW MUCH: $10 tttHS MUSIC ftcm* WWW.ATHENSMUSICFACTORY.COM now $4-10 P.M. TIL? THSDJ enta cat i EVENTS CJN SRLE NOW! «H LMls (7>l) 3S3 W8 3 WAYS TO BUY: ■ nlhens Burger Factory ■ wwwtECtcetweb.com ■ Call 1 (eOO) S65-HBE7 located Downtown at 420 L Clayton Street Win free tickets! @ www.athensmusicfactory.com sEUEn nflTions . / ! ; ' ' V ^ , % • HAPPYH AU TOURNAMENT I SO DXDDLEY A3E A 0_UB\ ' OWNER 1 FOR A NIGHT CALL * - m FLAGPOLE JANUARY 19, 2000
