•
Rating:
"There wasn't enough music I liked, so I started making it myself!" How often have we thought we have to wait too long to hear an album that really grabs us? Robert Pollard, the true leader and perhaps the only constant member of the Guided By Voices, solved this problem by embarking on a musical career at a young age. And, for the record, the music he liked was none other than that of the Beatles, Wire, Big Star, and Genesis.
Americans from Ohio, the Guided by Voices, as already mentioned, have frequently changed their lineup, with the inspired Frontman being the constant point. An overproductive man, so much so that he reached averages of one album a year, and in twenty years of career that makes for a lot of albums. Robert represents an atypical figure in the modern musical landscape. If only for his productivity, releasing one album a year is as far as possible from the routine imposed by majors, made of single-album-singles-tour-three years of stagnation. It's no coincidence that the Guided by Voices record for Matador, which is anything but a major.
Our heroes prefer short songs around two minutes and albums filled with tracks. However, their works always turn out to be successful, accomplished despite their brief duration. “Earthquake Glue,” released last August, can be a good starting album for those who do not know the group yet. It is an atypical pop record, close to rock, fast and engaging. The songs are perfect fusions of melodies and lyrics, the latter now reaching maturity; a
liquid and murky musicality at the same time. Pollard's voice, high and smooth, sometimes reminiscent of Stipe. Their instinct and freshness place them among the top of the indie lo-fi pop genre.
An immense discography, as we said, but always faithful to itself, never boring or falling into repetitiveness. In short, Pollard... and you know what you're listening to!
Highly recommended. An exceptional fan of theirs?!? Badly Drawn Boy, is that enough?
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 My Kind of Soldier (02:36)
Paralyze the chains
Soft the shelled remains
Stun the strike brigade
They are played
Out with cheek and hair
Take the right to bear
Teeth to bite them down
In the ground
My kind of soldier
You can ride on my shoulders
When you’ve won
Fight for the moment
Of control, when it opens
Then it’s gone
Introduce your pride
To the other side
Vaporize the trial
With denial
My kind of soldier
You can ride on my shoulders
When you’ve won
Fight for the moment
Of control, when it opens
Then it’s gone
06 Useless Inventions (02:53)
These times useless inventions
Satisfy inquiring minds
What about a piece of pretentions
In production of new schemes?
Realize a world of quick fix dreams.
Come on and purchase the new one
Be the first to strap it on
Lose antiquated fixations
That you cannot leave about
For a nice try change this model out
Feed on a stroke of brilliance sometimes
To cover up the oldness in your eyes
From noticing the coldness in our lives
Don't know if it's a miracle or a curse
Maybe we can help you to feel worse
These days useless inventions
Simplify or complicate
You've got the keys to the kingdom
That through which you could remove
That from small beginnings must improve
Feed on a stroke of brilliance sometimes
To cover up the oldness in your eyes
From noticing the coldness in our lives
Don't know if it's a miracle or a curse
Maybe we can help you to feel worse
Tap the curiosity of your youth
Are you seeking dead or taking truth?
Never knowing what will come up next
Will it be the panic switch or select?
Well, it's too late to change your connection
Didn't even get through inspection
Copyright divine interventions
Getting tired of useless inventions
Getting tired of useless inventions
Getting tired of useless inventions
Getting tired of useless inventions
Getting tired of useless inventions
07 Dirty Water (03:27)
mess me up, scratch liquid,
field tested, dirty water,
fell asleep, and found it boat.
cross my heart not to return,
watch it burn, dirty water, all of it .
flag torn, half rations,
steel rusted, dirty water,
found a tree and hitched me up.
brought me down to all i had done,
wouldn't float, dirty water, none of it.
08 The Best of Jill Hives (02:42)
Paid up, weathered, and type-O
Clad in gladstone, watch him go
Swimming ‘neath the microscope
Hello lonely, bless the nation
Mister skip to all or none
Wooden soldiers fall upon
Try to find what makes her tick
While they’re finding out what makes them sick
I don’t know where you find your nerve
I don’t know how you choose your words
Speak the ones that suit you worst
Keep you grounded, sad, and cursed
Circle the ones that come alive
Save them for the best of Jill Hives
Been around and left you flat
Tragically decided that
Every child of God’s a brat
And she’s dying to escape them
But do we really need to see
All her punchdrunk history?
And which of it might hold the key
For the exit to her destiny?
I don’t know where you get your nerve
I don’t know how you choose your words
Speak the ones that suit you worst
Keep you grounded, sad, and cursed
Circle the ones that come alive
Save them for the best of Jill Hives
I don’t know where you find your nerve
I don’t know how you choose your words
Speak the ones that suit you worst
Keep you grounded, sad, and cursed
Circle the ones that come alive
Save them for the best of Jill Hives
Number one in all our souls
Trifle in a crystal bowl
Fill it up with nine to five
Save them for the best of Jill Hives
Loading comments slowly
