CD Reviews

Robert Pollard(1)

Robert Pollard Is Off to Business | Guided by Voices Inc.

By MICHAEL PATRICK BRADY | June 9, 2008

3.5 Stars

For the first release on his Guided by Voices Inc. label, the always prolific Robert Pollard turns out an uncharacteristically focused group of songs. Not only does he achieve the balance of indie and arena rock he’s been chasing for years, but he demonstrates something new in his approach: restraint. “Weatherman and Skin Goddess” is a blissed-out slice of summery power pop with a grinning melody, a bouncy beat, and turns of phrase that only Pollard could conjure (or understand). “The Blondes” has a lighter touch but is nonetheless a memorable ballad thanks to some winning vocals. Intricate acoustic guitar on “No One But I” helps build the intensity, which slowly makes itself apparent in a churning, moody wave: “I feel so older now,” he sings. It could be an anthem for the new era of Robert Pollard, stormy and tempestuous but optimistic and determined to create — not just for the sake of creating (as it may once have seemed), but with a purpose. Pollard has long been in the business of writing songs, but here he seems invigorated; and for the first time in a long while, his business is mixed with pleasure.

Robert Pollard
Only a fool would’ve taken Guided by Voices’ 2004 break-up as a reason to believe we’d heard the last from frontman Robert Pollard, a Budweiser-slugging former grade-school teacher who’s never met a three-chord hook he didn’t like. Robert Pollard, "Supernatural Car Lover"
Saving The Past For Last
It’s refreshing that Pollard isn’t trying to rewrite the two-minute power pop of GbV’s heyday, and his relentless (and hyperprolific) pursuits are admirable.
Review: Robert Pollard | Elephant Jokes
Pollard doesn't care whether you listen to his music. The entire world could be rendered deaf and he'd still put out a half-dozen albums a year, driven by a need to express the twisted melodies and schizophasic lyrics that clutter his brain.
A real cut-up
Robert Pollard is a Renaissance man.
On the racks: October 10, 2006
Plus Robert Pollard, Sting, and the Cure.
Robert Pollard
From the first song, notice was served at the Paradise last Friday that Robert Pollard's first solo tour would be a different beast from the raucous, shambling piss-ups that marked Guided by Voices gigs of old.
Set ’em up, knock ’em back
History’s greatest drinkers, music’s greatest drinking songs, and a wobbly time line of booze in Boston.
Thaww, yeah
Ah, wintertime. It's dark, it's cold, it seems like you might lose a few extremities to frostbite on the way to the club. You know what? Just go for it.
Forward into the past!
Could it be just a coincidence that as I sit here writing this, a grizzled Bob Seger is gearing up for the release of Face the Promise , the Detroit rocker’s first proper studio album in, oh, forever and a day? The Lemonheads, "No Backbone" (mp3)
2008 Listravaganza!
We are not at all sick of bands with animal names yet and seem to have a soft spot for Erykah Badu that we kept very hush about all year.
Pop Master
As last night’s show at T.T. the Bear’s Place proved, Keene is still a masterful songwriter, singer, and guitarist in love with his craft after 22 years in the trenches.
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ARTICLES BY MICHAEL PATRICK BRADY

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If you didn’t know any better, you might think that Your Future Our Clutter is a recording of a raving old lunatic heckling a very solid instrumental band.

SAM AMIDON | I SEE THE SIGN | April 15, 2010
Sam Amidon is fascinated with the songbook of old Americana, and his radical yet tasteful reimaginings of traditional folk ballads and hymns breathe new life into a form often seen as quaint and old-fashioned.

RED SPAROWES | THE FEAR IS EXCRUCIATING, BUT THEREIN LIES THE ANSWER | March 30, 2010
Post-rock bands are like silent-film actors — bereft of words, they tend to use broad gestures to ensure that you get the point.

THESE NEW PURITANS | HIDDEN | March 09, 2010
Hidden is a real UK horror show, mixing grim, industrial beats with mannered, regal horns and a persistent aura of foggy uneasiness. These New Puritans reveal a penchant for æsthetic violence and revolutionary action that, though rarely convincing, matches the uncompromising intensity and martial tenor of the music.