Splendid Isolation
Today's GBV Review Countdown...Isolation Drills. There used to be a cool online version of this CDNow review, but it's gone thanks to Amazon snatching up that company a couple of years ago. Anyway.
Guided By Voices
Isolation Drills
(TVT)
Songwriting savant Robert Pollard has always infused Guided By Voices records with traces of melancholy. The sadness is pervasive throughout Isolation Drills, and, as it often happens, suffering –- in this case, the fallout from Pollard’s marital woes and similar difficulties involving his bandmates –- has led to brilliant art.
Sonically comparable to 1999’s inconsistent Do The Collapse, Isolation Drills finds Pollard continuing to evolve from his early penchant for short, lo-fi nuggets (best exemplified by 1994’s wondrous Bee Thousand) in favor of slicker, fuller, art-pomp tunes. The particularly notable difference, though, is in his words: Prone to penning fantastic, stream-of-consciousness tales of striped white jets, bulldog skin and elf kickers, Pollard has funneled his apparent misery into his most personal set of lyrics. Pensively optimistic during the chimy jangle of “Twilight Campfighter” (“It’s not too late to make us all feel better”), Pollard is mournfully resigned on the downbeat “How’s My Drinking” (“I don’t care about being sober”) and hopeful/cynical on “The Brides Have Hit Glass” (“Once again I roll the dice/And try to hang on to my shrinking paradise”). Emotional pall aside, “Chasing Heather Crazy” and “Glad Girls” are uptempo, instant GBV classics, and the thudding, less-direct “Pivotal Film” features Pollard’s potent band (led by invaluable guitarist Doug Gillard) producing a beautiful hard-rock clamor perhaps unrivaled in GBV lore.
Isolation Drills may not match Bee Thousand’s magical, mystical tone (not many records can), but it’s as melodic and powerful as the best of GBV’s vast catalog. It also firmly cements Pollard’s reputation as one of rock’s all-time greats, making the fans smile at least.
Guided By Voices
Isolation Drills
(TVT)
Songwriting savant Robert Pollard has always infused Guided By Voices records with traces of melancholy. The sadness is pervasive throughout Isolation Drills, and, as it often happens, suffering –- in this case, the fallout from Pollard’s marital woes and similar difficulties involving his bandmates –- has led to brilliant art.
Sonically comparable to 1999’s inconsistent Do The Collapse, Isolation Drills finds Pollard continuing to evolve from his early penchant for short, lo-fi nuggets (best exemplified by 1994’s wondrous Bee Thousand) in favor of slicker, fuller, art-pomp tunes. The particularly notable difference, though, is in his words: Prone to penning fantastic, stream-of-consciousness tales of striped white jets, bulldog skin and elf kickers, Pollard has funneled his apparent misery into his most personal set of lyrics. Pensively optimistic during the chimy jangle of “Twilight Campfighter” (“It’s not too late to make us all feel better”), Pollard is mournfully resigned on the downbeat “How’s My Drinking” (“I don’t care about being sober”) and hopeful/cynical on “The Brides Have Hit Glass” (“Once again I roll the dice/And try to hang on to my shrinking paradise”). Emotional pall aside, “Chasing Heather Crazy” and “Glad Girls” are uptempo, instant GBV classics, and the thudding, less-direct “Pivotal Film” features Pollard’s potent band (led by invaluable guitarist Doug Gillard) producing a beautiful hard-rock clamor perhaps unrivaled in GBV lore.
Isolation Drills may not match Bee Thousand’s magical, mystical tone (not many records can), but it’s as melodic and powerful as the best of GBV’s vast catalog. It also firmly cements Pollard’s reputation as one of rock’s all-time greats, making the fans smile at least.
posted by MH at
9:17 AM
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