ROBERT POLLARD – waved out (LP Vinyl)

Remastered Repress on blue vinyl des 2ten Solo-Album des Guided by Voices-Vorstehers zum 20jährigen Jubiläum des 1998 erschienenen 2ten Albums. The Guided By Voices captains second solo album from 1998 captures the more eclectic side of his songwriting. Here, he brilliantly compresses prog, psych, and post-punk ideas into magnificent two-minute pop songs. Wire, early Genesis, Nilsson Schmilsson, Lennons White Album songs, Blue Öyster Cult, XTC, and Captain Beefheart: its all here, condensed into brilliant songs like Subspace Biographies and Whiskey Ships. A lots been made of Pollards spontaneous and prolific songwriting methods, and most of thats true, though he works much harder on his songs than even he likes to admit. With Waved Out, he seemed to grow more comfortable and ambitious in formal studio-type settings, so that anyone who carps about unfinished arrangements and shitty production values ought to be pretty happy with this record. This doesnt apply to Caught Waves Again, where he sings into a boombox over a tape of GBV guitarist Doug Gillards noodling. Nor does it apply to a touching song about tragedies in Pollards hometown of Dayton, Ohio, called People Are Leaving, where he puts two separate melodies over instruments by collaborator Stephanie Sayers. In addition to Gillard, a few other GBV personalties appear on the record, Jim Pollard, Tobin Sprout and Jim MacPherson, then of The Breeders. But the bulk of the record, including a fair bit of the drumming, is all Robert Pollard. *GbV