Guided By Voices
Propeller
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NATN Recommended
Guided By Voices
Propeller
Rockathon Records, 1992
RiYL: Genesis, R.E.M., Kinks |
"Is anybody ready to rock?"
"This song does not rock."
These are the words that open Guided By Voices' bizarre and brilliant Propeller, spoken over a vigorous crowd chant of "G-B-V! G-B-V!" and jump-starting a soaring tribute to rock and roll for its own fucking sake.
Wait. This song does not rock? I don't get it. Furthermore this quote seems to go without scrutiny by the hundreds of GBV devotees who don't let the slightest detail of Robert Pollard & Co.'s recorded output escape their attention.
But not this devotee. So in trying to make sense of it I can only assume that this line is included to symbolize the many naysayers who confronted the band. And surely Bob had plenty of sensible critics who never could have imagined that a middle-aged elementary school teacher could craft an album on par with the monumental work of his '60s and '70s rock deities -- especially when he was trying to do so while getting drunk with his band of hometown buddies and using awkwardly unprofessional recording techniques.
To think of this band consciously trying to make such a statement is of course fairly ridiculous. But they weren't consciously trying to conquer the rock universe. They were, in fact, much more conscious of how ridiculous this fantasy was.
Another reason it could be said that "Over The Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox," Propeller's opening track, did not rock is because, at that point, it hadn't. It would be a whole two years after this album's 1992 release until GBV worked up the nerve to regularly take their act before an audience. The chants of "G-B-V" dubbed into the beginning of this song were only one more figment of a private fantasy that had yet to be made public.
But with Pollard approaching his mid-30s and already four muffled albums into his recording career, the fantasy'd had plenty of time to develop into something rich and elaborate. "Over The Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox," "Weed King," and "Metal Mothers" begin the album with (of all things) unapologetic prog rock. Now, I'm the last person who will be mistaken for a prog aficionado, but I'm fairly certain that these three songs represent the freshest sounds that anybody had wrung out of that genre in at least a dozen years.
The sound isn't quite lo-fi (it's actually better than that), but it is cheap. And the approach is neither the homage of an idol-obsessed fanboy nor the pastiche of an irony-obsessed wanker. When Pollard sings, "Oh Mesh Gear Fox / Pull out another bag of tricks from your scientific box" and, "For the dreams of the Weed King we all sing," he is being entirely sincere -- to the spirit of rock and roll and to his own artistic vision.
This trilogy of anthems is interrupted only by the ace power pop number "Quality Of Armor" and the preceding track, "Particular Damaged." "Damaged" is a two-minute run of guitar pluckings and static-y mumblings recorded by a severely inebriated individual. You will hate it on the first few listens but perhaps come to see it as an improbably pleasant lead-in to the slick harmonies of "Armor."
His statement made clear, Pollard opens up the pop playground on the remainder of the album. And it's not one of those lame-ass, lawsuit-conscious minimalist play sets that they expect today's kids to enjoy. This construction is baroque, conjuring something so grandiose as to become almost surreal. "Lethargy" is a towering lament of restlessness, with imagery ("The air is thick / And the clouds are moving so slowly") that establishes Propeller as one of the greatest albums to listen to on an overbearingly grey day. The weirdly wistful "14 Cheerleader Coldfront" features transcendent harmonizing from Pollard and guitarist Tobin Sprout, "Ergo Space Pig" is dominated by a psychedelically altered guitar, and "Circus World" follows by reprising the neo-prog motif that opened the album.
These songs -- in their unexpected fuzziness, their non-sequitur phrasing, and their apparent effortlessness -- seem to come from someplace more mythical than Dayton, OH, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Two. The series of disappointingly brief song-snippets that comprise "Back To Saturn X Radio Report" reinforce this feeling that Propeller is a hazy transmission from a fantasy world. As the album continues, Pollard reaches deeper and deeper into this realm, closing with the nearly spooky "On The Tundra" rather than the giddy kiss-off "Exit Flagger."
Still, no matter how far he reaches into his scientific box, Pollard remains true to the initial rock vision of this album. Every note of Propeller stands to refute those who assumed it would not rock. And by the end the fantasy seems anything but ridiculous -- Guided by Voices have created an album worthy of worship. The scores of crowds who later chanted the band's initials in anticipation is your proof.
NICK HALSEY |