Newspaper Page Text
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
