Guided by Voices

Guided by Voices, "Static Airplane Jive"
Recordhead (re-released on Luna), released: 1993, six song seven inch
What is it with this band, a thousand songs and they are all good or great. This seven inch is brief but packs quite a whollop. The two main songs (main, what does he mean by main) "Big School" and "Damn Good Mr. Jam" Are worth the price of admission. These songs deliver on the promise that GBV has usually made good on. Home-fi recording of a bunch of disposable pop tunes that will seep into your soul. And why do people always bring up the Beatles when reviewing Guided by Voices? (like you just did) There is something very post Beatles going on here. Can't quite put my finger on it. I can just hear Paul McCartney sitting on stage on a bar stool with a single spotlight singing "Hey Aardvark".
[BdeV 4/28/96]

Guided by Voices, "Static Airplane Jive"
Recordhead, released: 1993, six song seven inch
Although already reviewed here by BdeV, I feel I must put in my 2¢. This 7", although it only has some half dozen songs on it, is a close runner-up to "Best Guided by Voices Release Ever." If "Big School" isn't more of a colliseum anthem than anything on Frampton Comes Alive, I don't know what is. And how about "Damn Good Mr. Jam"? What could come close for smooth, sustained greatness? Brendan summed it up when he said you could just picture Paul McCartney sitting on a stool singing "Hey Aardvark", but it would have to be circa white album period McCartney, 'cause now he's all fucked up doing duets with Michael Jackson and still letting his wife play live with him. These songs are a testament to Bob Pollard's ability to conjour up great tunes from different influences and rock genres, seemingly at the drop of a hat. He's said that he can write 5 tunes while just sitting on the toilet, and 3 of them will be good. It seems like grandstanding and egotism when you hear it, but if you look back on all the songs I've mentioned above and the several dozen good ones I didn't, it's a quip that demands to be reckoned with. That's it for what's up and I'm out.
[CCL 6/8/96]

Guided by Voices, "Under the Bushes Under the Stars"
Matador Records, released: March 26, 1996, Album
The guys from Dayton, Ohio are back. Twenty-four new songs, including the great tracks "Cut-Out Witch", "Acorns & Orioles," "Don't Stop Now", and "Redmen & Ther Wives." This band keeps pumping out catchy melodies and infectious lyrics. The Beatles meets the Who meets some other band meets a $399 four track recorder. This one's produced by Kim Deal (of The Breeders and The Amps), and does a good job at capturing their impromptu energy even though recorded at a 24 track studio. At $14.99, you pay 62¢ a song. That's a pretty good deal. Go out and buy it. Also: check out the feature-length article about GbV and their new album in the April 30 installment of Citizen Web, at http://www.citizenweb.com. The feature will include downloadable snippets from tunes off the new record.
[CCL 4/1/96]

Vampire on Titus/Propeller
(1993/1992) Scat Records/Rockathon (released on 1 CD by Scat)
This was a powerful couple of years for my boys. They whipped up these 33 songs, plus assorted tunes that ended up on Get Out of My Stations (a 7"). Vampire features an overused distorted vocal effect, but it works on the opening track "Wished I was a Giant." Other *grand* highlights of this album are "Dusted" and "Marchers in Orange" (both rerecorded later on the "Fast Japanese Spin Cycle cd-mini release), "World of Fun," "Jar of Cardinals," "Gleemer," "Wondering Boy Poet," and "What About It?" This album has a heavy kind of feeling (heavy like Black Sabbath, not like a funeral), but it shines on, you crazy diamond.
[CCL 6/8/96]

Propeller
Rockathon 1992
Propeller may stand out as perhaps one of the greatest GbV releases of all time. This one might go unnoticed by many, but after some time re-listening to it I've realized that it's a real heavy-hitter. Genuine classics like "Weed King," "Quality of Armor," "Lethargy," "14 Cheerleader Coldfront,"and "Circus World," are hard to beat. Keep a close ear out for "Back to Saturn X Radio Report" for tunes that later appear on Static Airplane Jive, Bee Thousand, and Alien Lanes. If you don't have this one in your collection you better friggin' buy it now!
[CCL 6/8/96]

Bee Thousand
Scat/Matador 1994
This is the first GbV album I ever bought, and I really thought I hated these guys till I got to track 15 "Kicker of Elves". This quick acoustic ditty made my ears stand up and listen. After that it was only a matter of moments till I also fell in love with "I am a Scientist," "Mincer Ray," "Awful Bliss," "Hot Freaks," hell, the whole damn album. This album feels a little more melancholy than their other releases, but it still stands up listen after listen.
[CCL 6/8/96]

Alien Lanes
Matador, 1995
Their first almost-major label release. You can't fight city hall, especially if they're playing tunes like "Blimps Go 90," "Game of Pricks," "Motor Away," "My Valuable Hunting Knife," and "Striped White Jets." This album tries for more "poppy" tunes with direct hooks, but serves up lots of 'em, still with that GbV flavor. This one definitely kicks.
[CCL 6/8/96]

Get Out of My Stations
Siltbreeze, 1993
This 7" features my current favorite GbV song, "Melted Pat." It's great. Also here are "Scalding Creek" and others. Don't have the vinyl in front of me (that's right, suckers, this one's only on vinyl, so if you can't spin the black circle then you better get to the Wiz [the wiz is an electronic stereo type store in the NY region, ed. note] and quick), but as usual everything here is either great or will grow on you with time. If you can find it, buy it.
[CCL 6/8/96]

Fast Japanese Spin Cycle
Engine Records 1994
I always say "Half Japanese Spin Cycle" by mistake, which is completely wrong. Anyway, on this little number you get "3rd World Birdwatching," "My Impression Now" (also the name of my hard drive, not coincidentally), "Volcano Divers" (A CLASSIC!!), "Indian Fables," "Dusted," "Marchers in Orange," and another song or two that slip my mind at the moment. The rerecorded versions of "Dusted" and "Marchers..." really shine, as does the fine acoustic "Indian Fables." "Volcano Divers" really sent me over the edge of musical ecstasy the first time I heard it. Great riff, great lyrics. For about 6 bucks or so you get more good songs than the Motels and Missing Persons ever recorded combined (which would only be 1, probably).
[CCL 6/8/96]