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.

Related: Review: Robert Pollard | Elephant Jokes, Robert Pollard, A real cut-up, More

Topics: CD Reviews , Robert Pollard, Robert Pollard

Comments

Add a Comment

Best Music Poll 2009 winners

Today's Event Picks

[FILM] Ghostbusters (new 35mm print) at Brattle Theatre

Plus 6 more >>

--> -->

ARTICLES BY MICHAEL PATRICK BRADY

YO LA TENGO | POPULAR SONGS | August 19, 2009
Yo La Tengo are articulate, thoughtful purveyors of highbrow pop.

REVIEW: ROBERT POLLARD | ELEPHANT JOKES | August 10, 2009
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.

REVIEW: PISSED JEANS | KING OF JEANS | August 03, 2009
Billy Joel told us that the future of Allentown was bleak, but he could never have predicted that out of the decaying Pennsylvania steel mills and a crumbling economy, a sound as ugly and exciting as Pissed Jeans would emerge.

SAX RUINS | YAWIQUO | July 22, 2009
After a quarter-century of punishing, hyper-rhythmic acrobatics, drummer Tatsuya Yoshida has taken a sharp detour.

THE HORSE'S HA | OF THE CATHMAWR YARDS | June 08, 2009
Despite a solid roster of Chicago underground vets, the Horse's Ha fail to show signs of life on what proves to be a sleepy album of wispy folk.

See all articles by: MICHAEL PATRICK BRADY

Most Viewed

Most Emailed

WHOLE FOODS HEALTH-CARE BOYCOTT GATHERS MOMENTUM
Unfortunately for Whole Foods Market CEO and founder John Mackey, those who appreciate his store for the healthy, eco-friendly (read: left-leaning, progressive) lifestyle it promotes are the same citizens who support universal health care.

PLAYERS ONLY
Jessica Smith has spent years booking death-metal shows around Boston. On top of loads of meat-and-potatoes nights at O'Brien's in Allston and Dee Dee's in Quincy, two of her shows — Origin and Malevolent Creation — actually sold out the Middle East upstairs.

WHY WIND POWER BLOWS
The world is looking for a no-brainer solution to the 21st century's impending energy crisis, and wind power seems to provide many of the right answers.

REVIEW: INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
From the beginning, Tarantino's obsessive self-referentiality and movie allusions never let you forget that you're watching a film.

DEFAMING TWITTER
Hate Twitter? Then you're probably loving a new, buzz-generating study — released last week by the Texas market-research firm Pear Analytics — which found that the vast majority of Twitter messages, a/k/a tweets, are pretty much worthless.

WHOLE FOODS HEALTH-CARE BOYCOTT GATHERS MOMENTUM
Unfortunately for Whole Foods Market CEO and founder John Mackey, those who appreciate his store for the healthy, eco-friendly (read: left-leaning, progressive) lifestyle it promotes are the same citizens who support universal health care.

WHY WIND POWER BLOWS
The world is looking for a no-brainer solution to the 21st century's impending energy crisis, and wind power seems to provide many of the right answers.

A MIGHTY WIND
This past Earth Day, President Barack Obama, speaking at an Iowa wind-turbine factory, delivered a gusty peroration. "The nation that leads the world in creating new energy sources will be the nation that leads the 21st-century global economy," he said. "America can be that nation. America must be that nation."

PLAYERS ONLY
Jessica Smith has spent years booking death-metal shows around Boston. On top of loads of meat-and-potatoes nights at O'Brien's in Allston and Dee Dee's in Quincy, two of her shows — Origin and Malevolent Creation — actually sold out the Middle East upstairs.