Ladies and Gentlemen! Children of Most Ages! It's Guided by Voices!
The Guided by Voices story is a simple one, a familiar one if you will: a bunch of guys from Ohio got together to be in a band, lead by fourth grade school teacher Robert Pollard. Following in the footsteps of their musical heroes, this ever changing group sought to make music, even if their early efforts were recorded in their basement. This is one of those earlier, less polished sounding songs.
But Lo! Their indy qualities were perfect for the mid-1990s and they were seen as being at the forefront of the 'low-fi' scene. Did production money destroy their sound? Presumably you already watched 'Bulldog Skin' from that later period, but see how this sounds to you.
Live even! I saw them live once at Summerfest. It was the afternoon of a sunny day. Maybe. I don't remember the weather, I just remembered enjoying the show. It was early yet so they weren't drunk yet. Rock stars like to drink I guess and by this point the guys were Rock Stars.
So of course a year or so after I saw them, they broke up. 2004 was the end of the band named Guided by Voices but since the mainstay of the band was always lead singer Robert Pollard, it's hard to say the band is really gone. Bob still makes music and it sounds pretty much the same as it always did: catchy as hell.
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2 comments:
If you don't already own it, track down Guided By Voices: A Brief History by James Greer (former GBV bassist).
The DVD of their final concert, The Electrifying Conclusion, is a worthy rental, too.
Found out about/Was reminded of the Final Concert DVD as I double-checked my GBV memories online so I'm curious about that already. Now I have another thing to be curious about. Thanks!
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