Guided By Voices
Universal Truths And Cycles
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Guided By Voices
Universal Truths And Cycles
Matador, 2002
RiYL: Wire, Frank Black, Roxy Music, Joy Division |
Who wants to produce and distribute a 19-track rock masterpiece? Anyone? Once you hear this album, it'll be a no-brainer, but you gotta give props to Matador for recognizing something familiar and beautiful in this music and deciding to help get it out to the masses. GBV and the label have become tight again, two indie rock institutions keeping the torch burning for the kids.
Naturally for a band with such a large catalog, true fans dissent as to what is the best Pollard/GBV material. Some scoff at the smooth arena-rock stylings of the last three records, instead hearkening back to the "golden" Tobin Sprout-attended era of Propeller / Bee Thousand / Alien Lanes. Others prefer the pounding, diverse rock of Under The Bushes, Under The Stars and Mag Earwhig!, or even the abrasive Vampire On Titus.
But with Universal Truths And Cycles, GBV have made a record that should please any fan still listening. It's bubbling over with classic rock power, pop hooks, lo-fi basement spontaneity, effervescent melodies, and such a cornucopia of Pollard-isms as to delight anyone who's ever sung for the dreams of the weed king or walked into the house of miraculous recovery.
By reverting to its old tricks of the trade, the group has managed to reflect on one disc both the pure, pocket-sized majesty of the mid-'90s albums that brought GBV to the masses and the powerful, guitar-heavy attack of its latter years that has turned the group into a boisterous, tour-hardened juggernaut.
Take the album's opening crush of songs:
"Wire Greyhounds," which kicks things off in style, is only 27 seconds long, and still proves as powerful an opening volley as notable past GBV flag-bearers like "Fair Touching," "A Salty Salute," and "Over The Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox." Pollard furiously spits out randomish lyrics and covers two verses in rapid fire. "Sit up and beg! / for slivers of language," he commands, as the song turns on a dime and races to an abrupt finish.
Then "Skin Parade" takes over, its meandering acoustic intro ("babies acted like babies / and so did the grownups") soon giving way to a monster riff along the lines of Isolation Drills' "The Enemy," but deliciously more jagged. Third song "Zap" is a modest, jangly Britpop throwaway, but already the album has proven more sonically diverse than the group's two TVT efforts. But wait 'til what comes next.
"Christian Animation Torch Carriers" is an indie rock epic, and takes its place among GBV's best songs ever. It takes a little while to get going, Pollard skirting the song's motifs in a restrained fashion. But after assuring us "there's nothing wrong," the group launches into an uplifting chorus that turns out to only be the first of many plateaus over the song's course. Doug Gillard takes two extended guitar solos, the second of which bursts into the song's true chorus, and naturally, reading that its lyrics are "christian animation torch carriers / how will you learn the sign language?" won't serve to approximate the ebullient catharsis of the song's climax. Trust me, it's a killer.
It's a testament to the album's overall strength that songs like the acoustic, rambling "Weeping Boogeyman" sound as crucial to its flow as the infectious stomper "Everywhere With Helicopter" or the chugging, already-a-live-staple "Back To The Lake." The latter almost sounds like a call to Pollard's many fans: one could read the chorus -- "pick up, for god's sake / when we call you back to the lake" -- as an address along the lines of "sure, I've put out some shaky albums over the last few years, andnot everything in the ol' catalog is of the highest quality. But the wellsprings of GBV creativity are flowing strongly once again. Your presence by our lake is requested."
Bob conceded as much at a recent Brooklyn show, exhorting the fevered masses with his excitement over the new label deal: "Kids, we're back on Matador," he exclaimed. "We're back to the lake!"
Well folks, the view by the lake is pretty, and you're all invited. Universal Truths And Cycles features all of these and more gems from the unimitable brain of Bob, with his trusty-as-ever sidekicks fleshing them out with gusto. If you've been away, welcome back. And if you never left, get ready for the new era: fun as the last, and just as filling.
TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.