With the dizzying regularity of Guided By Voices releases I struggle to think of ways to make reviewing them interesting. In the interest of variety I’m basically going to side-step the issue by reviewing the album launch party held at the Lexington in London.
The evening was compered by Stewart Lee, the stand-up comic is a big music fan and has made no secret of his love of the work of Robert Pollard. Disappointingly he declined to offer up any comedy during the evening, choosing instead to run a very tricky GBV trivia quiz between bands. He was a genial and enthusiastic host, giving the bands some positive support and even taking part on the mosh-pit (albeit briefly). He was accompanied in the audience by Kevin Eldon, who stayed clear of the flayling arms and legs of the enthusiastic crowd.
First up on stage was the GBV tribute act band of Pricks. In the absence of the real band, who seem less and less likely to ever play in the UK, this is nthe closest you’ll get to seeing Bob and the boys play live. They sounded great, and the choice of songs was pretty perfect with a mixture of favourites, EP tracks and oddities delighting the partisan crowd. They were joined by super-fan paddy Considine (more of him later) for a few tracks, and he had all the moves down perfectly. The singing drummer was a bit of a star and they definitely could have played for longer judging by the chants from the crowd when they finished.
Next up was Fawn Spots, a much noisier and more abrasive proposition. Just two guitars and drums (bass players increasingly out of fashion) they tore through a set largely made up of their own tunes. Technical hitches aside they sounded pretty good, but it was the Guided By Voices covers they also added that went down best with the crowd.
Headlining the night was Paddy Considine’s band Riding the Low. The actor takes his music very seriously, and he is a pretty impressive front-man. He has clearly studied the moves of Robert Pollard, as well as the granddaddy of it all Roger Daltrey, and he wasn’t shy about striking a pose during the set. The band played very well, the musicianship probably the best of the night, and the songs were decent. I don’t have any urge to buy their album, but it was an enjoyable way to spend an evening. In keeping with the theme of the night they closed proceedings with a handful of Guided By Voices tracks including a note perfect rendition of ‘The Girls of Wild Strawberries’.
So, I guess I can’t write a review of the Cool Planet album and not mention it at all. The summary is that it is another good Guided By Voices album, with a mixture of tracks varying in quality – nothing surprising here. Tobin Sprout is on great form, offering his best set of songs for a while, and ‘Psychotic Crush’ is one of the most enjoyable tracks on the album.
It isn’t quite as enjoyable a set as Motivational Jumpsuit and Robert Pollard’s writing is a little bit uneven, even by his own typically uneven standards. Given that he manages to deliver a large handful of top quality rockers. ‘Bad Love Is Easy To Do’ is just perfect and any album that opens with a song as strong as ‘Authoritarian Zoo’ is worth 30 minutes of your time.
8/10
By Dorian Rogers