Artist bio

See also: Airport 5, Guided By Voices, Lifeguards

Robert Pollard is principally known as the frontman and leader of indie rock juggernaut Guided By Voices. But his recording career extends beyond GBV, with a series of albums released eponymously and pseudonomysly fulfilling his extracurricular creative urge.

Pollard formed GBV in 1985, but it wasn't until 1996 when he took the step beyond with the Matador release of Not In My Airforce, accompanied on the same day by a solo album from fellow GBV songwriter Tobin Sprout. The aquatic-themed Waved Out followed in 1998, but it wasn't until the following year's Kid Marine when Pollard decided to subtitle it "No. 1 in the Fading Captain Series." And the rest was history.

If you dozed through your history classes, though, the short story is that Pollard has exploited the Fading Captain moniker in the years since, often releasing three or four albums a year -- plus assorted compilations -- on local Dayton, Ohio label Rockathon. The man is a rock and roll genius, although subpar songs are a matter of course. It's hard to sum his work up in a few scant paragraphs, so instead I offer a Fading Captain salute: Bottoms Up, You Fantastic Bastard!

Albums by this artist

From A Compound Eye (2006)

Zoom 7" (2005)

Relaxation of the Asshole (2005)

Music For Bubble EP (2005)

Motel of Fools (2003)

Choreographed Man Of War (2001)

Speak Kindly Of Your Local Volunteer Fire Department (Recommended) (1999)

Kid Marine (1999)

Waved Out (1998)

Not In My Airforce (1996)

Robert Pollard

Relaxation of the Asshole

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» JOHN WENZEL | STAFF WRITER

Robert Pollard Relaxation of the Asshole Yuk Yuk Motherfucker, 2005 RiYL:

Do you want to hang out with Bob Pollard while he’s drunk, rambling, hoarse-voiced and misanthropic? You lucky sonofabitch, you can! That is, if you were lucky enough to snag a copy of Relaxation of the Asshole, a vinyl-only LP now in its second pressing. Taking the concept of a “fan's-only” album to exponential levels of absurdity, Relaxation collects between-song banter from various Guided By Voices sets of the past few years, plus the occasional, sloppy, full-band improv jam.

As someone who occasionally socialized with Pollard, I can attest to the man’s endless, rapid-fire wit. Even when he’s about to projectile vomit, he’s got your number. But as a critic and hardcore GBV fan, I’d caution all but the most fervent Pollard acolytes against blowing any time or money on this fairly dubious release (which appears on the semi-official Yuk Yuk Motherfucker label, probably a one-off bootleg imprint about as enduring as a bottle of Jack Daniels in Nate Farley’s backpack).

I feel icky even attempting to review the album, as it’s only amusing in the context of a GBV concert. In fact, I’m sure this was never meant to be reviewed at all. But picture Bob stumbling around the stage, belting out random, awesome band names ("Marshmallow Linebacker!" "Cocker, Meatloaf and Daltrey!") and amusing, albeit disjointed, stories from his childhood, and you’re pretty damn close.

To be fair, Bob is fully aware of his tendency to ramble and his persona as the King of Beers (see the track “Hopeless, Pathetic Alcoholics”). The thing is, he doesn’t care. The few moments of genuine transgression –- distributing stage beers to underage audience members, smoking cigarettes at a New York venue after the smoking ban took effect –- aren’t quite as amusing as when Bob truly gets his hackles up. On “My Brother’s a Better Guitar Player than Joan Jett,” Bob rails against Rolling Stone’s arbitrary “Best Guitar Players of All Time” list, sounding homicidally pissed that the magazine rated Joan Jett over Pete Townshend (and really, who can blame him?) He then goes on to slag both guitarists in Radiohead and whoever else his juiced-up mind can grasp at.

So all you Postal Blowfishers and Disarmed Settlers, this might just be the fix you were looking for, especially now that GBV rests in peace. This is your chance to “hang out” with Bob and kill a sixer of Miller Lite. For everyone else -– don’t worry about what you might be missing. If you don't get this now, you never got it to begin with.

JOHN WENZEL | John is a Denver-based writer and former editor of Sponic magazine. John currently works for The Denver Post and Rockpile and has contributed to such noble but non-paying enterprises as Shredding Paper, Aversion.com, and Erasing Clouds. He's obsessed with the Dayton, Ohio '90s music scene but likes to think he's keen on some of the new bands the kids are listening to these days. John also helps run the Friendly Psychics Music recording collective. Email.