@buru5 that's some quality geek consolidation. And I see you're listening to GbV hahaa - Skills Like This is only one of the best songs humans have ever recorded 😉 and that's not even to speak of Chasing Heather Crazy 😍
@jake4480 oh yeah, i decided to start listening to GbV about six months ago (or so), starting from the beginning of their discography and now they are (pretty much) all i listen to. i burned through all the main discography and have branched off into Bob Pollard's solo stuff, now i'm going into the numerous non-GbV bands that are basically just GbV. i think "Unspirited" is my favorite off Isolation Drills, and -- overall -- my favorite record is Under The Bushes, Under The Stars.
@buru5 NICE. I do love some of Bob's solo stuff too. My fave album is probably Do the Collapse (I know, he hated it, but that Ric Ocasek production made the songs SHINE!) although Alien Lanes is a close second, has a ton of songs I really love.
I saw them once! With Superdrag. SO cool. I wasn't much into them then haha- and some of their recent ones have just been kinda meh for me. But a while back, I made my ultimate Pollard playlist- 32 songs. These. You'll probably know all/most hahaha
@buru5 dude this is a GREAT writeup, you nailed it!! EXACTLY. I'm always so struck, I just LOVE that album. Wish there was more like that. Gonna check Keane Brothers - oh and ZOO PIE. OMG. Things That I Will Keep is GREAT - I mean, that greatest of they assembled a while back kinda nailed a lot of their great stuff too, and that was on there, rightfully so.
@jake4480 what amazes me is that Bob doesn't seem to get worse with age like a lot of musicians do either by losing their edgy or overindulging. i guess because Bob has always overindulged. i was amazed the quality of the album Warp and Woof, which came out in 2019.
@buru5 there's often a song or two, the last couple have been kinda samey to me- the sound is still there and great but it just needs that polish, yknow? And this is coming from ME, I listen to some kinda raucous punk haha. I guess I just need good strong, hooks, with his stuff, it lends itself to it for his voice, or the melody kinda tends to meander, to me? That's the best way I can think of to describe it haha. I mean, those Collapse songs, and even Alien Lanes, they're weird but they have HOOKS and they just hit you in the face
@jake4480 agree; i feel like that has been the case for all his work. even Collapse, Lanes and Bee have tracks that don't land. Bob is like the old saying about locking monkeys in a room with a typewriter, given enough time they write Shakespeare. the GbV album "Bears for Lunch" is one of my least favorite, but randomly in the middle is one of the best (imo) songs he ever wrote (attached). this is happening less with newer releases but the magic still pops up.
@buru5 100% agree on all of this haha. Damn, White Flag is pretty good. I think I kinda overlooked it, I do love two on Bears. I love King Arthur the Red. What a banger of an opener. One of MY favorites of theirs. Has a Collapse feel. And Finger Gang, I can't get over. It's so wonderful hahaha
@jake4480 i think "The Challenge is Much More" is a good one too. that's the weird thing about GbV and why i was listening to Isolation Drills again, because i didn't really like it at first but now am rediscovering it and it has a bunch of great songs on it?? idk how he does it but sometimes the hooks are so subtle they're hard to catch on the first or even second listen.
@buru5 that's so interesting you say that (listening to Challenge now- yep. Pretty cool. Sounds like his solo stuff) from like, Standard Gargoyle Decisions. Which I love. The rough riffage. By the way what even IS that guitar riff in White Flag I mean 🤯
@jake4480 idk and the bass just trudging along, especially at the end. the song is like two verses then instrumental drone fading out almost like shoegaze.
@buru5 Bob is one of the greatest shoegaze artists when he wants to be. But he's too Bowie, next song he'll be doing high kicks. The amount of alcohol that man can consume- I saw him solo too, in Boston many years ago. I've never seen anyone drink like that, not seem drunk, never miss a NOTE. It was really something haha
@jake4480 that's awesome. i rarely am able to see live acts. i've seen a number of videos of him live with GbV just totally wasted and missing verses completely.
@buru5 😂 I certainly don't go to a lot of shows anymore. Not since before covid. But if something REALLY amazing came around, I would. It would have to be incredible to get me out of my house haha
@buru5 exactly, what I was noticing! All under 2 minutes for the most part, it looks like- wow. Glad you mentioned, I bounced off it before for some reason. Even though the first track is great and it keeps going like that! Damn Bandcamp kept lagging as I was streaming it, I gotta just grab it haha
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