Throughout their 15 years, Dayton, Ohio's Guided By Voices have been driven by one man: Robert Pollard. A songwriter that has redefined prolific (someone once quipped he could write five tunes on the can, and three would be masterpieces), he's also pushed on-stage beer consumption to new limits, to the point that the Guided By Vices joke has become an old saw. His early years elevated him to a lo-fi god of DIY home recording, but his muse has carried him through indie rock's fall from hipster status. Rabid fans who collect his melodic pearls consider him a great hero, and in the media he's been considered, at times, a saviour of rock'n'roll. Now entering their 16th year with their stunningly dark, yet gorgeous new full-length, "Isolation Drills," here is the mythic, inebriated history of one of rock's great legends-in-the-making.
1970 to 1980
Drummer Kevin Fennell and guitarist Mitch Mitchell begin to play music together as teenagers in a band called Ambush. Mitch Mitchell and Robert Pollard later play in a heavy metal cover band called Anacrusis.
1980 to 1985
Robert Pollard, his younger brother Jimmy and Mitch Mitchell are often found at Dayton, Ohio clubs watching Fig. 4, one of their favourite local bands. The band features future GBV member Tobin Sprout on guitar. "They used to come to a lot of our local shows," explains Sprout. After a while, Pollard struck up a friendship with Sprout. "It took him a while to talk to us."
Pollard amuses himself writing songs, creating imaginary band names and album covers during his free time from his career teaching grade four. He says 14 years as a schoolteacher had a huge influence on his songwriting, especially lyrically. "For those years teaching, I was eight years old," explains Pollard. "Their ideas rubbed off on me, and I was in this kind of mythological world."
1986
The band makes it into a proper studio to record their first mini-album. The very R.E.M.-ish "Forever Since Breakfast," is released locally on the I Wanna label by a local college radio DJ. The band is disappointed, thinking it sounds over-produced, and swear off work in a real recording studio for nearly a decade. Fig. 4 guitarist Tobin Sprout joins the band on guitar soon after.
1987
Just before releasing "Devil Between My Toes," self-recorded on eight-track in friend Steve Wilbur's garage, Tobin Sprout quits the band and moves to Florida. Sprout plays guitar on parts of "Devil," but the record is primarily Pollard, bassist Mitch Mitchell and drummer Kevin Fennell. Pollard feels, even now, the record is one of the band's finest moments. "That's where I changed everything," he says. "It is where we really started making records for ourselves. Without a doubt it is the defining point for GBV at that time." By the end of the year, the band records "Sandbox," again in Steve Wilbur's garage. An experimental amalgamation of their influences, it lacks focus and is one of their least respected home-recorded albums.
1989
Back in the garage for the eight-track recording of "Self Inflicted Ariel Nostalgia," which hearkens back to the sound of their debut. Standout track "Liar's Tale" remains one of Pollard's finest compositions.
1990
The beginning of the ever-revolving Guided By Voices line-up begins with "Same Place The Fly Got Smashed," named after a spot on the wall of Pollard's Wright State dorm room where a fly did indeed get smashed and eaten. The songwriting on most of the record is a collaboration between Robert and brother Jimmy Pollard (both play guitar), while a new rhythm section is introduced, Greg Demos on bass and Don Thrasher on drums.
1992
While 1991 proves quiet, during this time Pollard prepares for what seemed to be a last ditch effort to propel the band out of Dayton. The result, "Propeller," consists of great songs Pollard has been sitting on until the right time. Originally a limited 500 copy pressing, all with individually made covers (some made by Pollard's grade four students during art class that year), the record also marks the return of Tobin Sprout. The record causes a stir when it's mailed out to press and labels behind Pollard's back by "manager for life" Pete Jamison. The band signs with Cleveland-based label Scat for their next record.
1993
Their Scat debut, "Vampire On Titus," is a mixture of four- and eight-track recordings. Sprout engineers the recording, featuring Bob Pollard (drums, some guitar and vocals) Jimmy Pollard (bass, guitar) and Tobin Sprout (guitar, vocals). The record, a real fan favourite over the years, contains two Sprout songs "Donkey School" and "Gleemer" marking the first time that GBV songs were not Pollard's. Sprout's songwriting contributions continue from then. "Vampire on Titus' was the first of three records that really put Guided By Voices on the map," claims Sprout.
"It is definitely one of my top three favourite albums I have ever made," adds Pollard. "Some things come out a little more angular they have more of an edge, they seem to be more cohesive. I am proud that a lot of fans say that is their favourite." The band is building a fan base outside of Dayton, helped by plugs from Sonic Youth and the Beastie Boys, as well as great reviews in Puncture and Alternative Press. Surprisingly for a band with a current reputation for lively performance, it is around the time the band ends their self-imposed exile from playing shows, which also broadens the band's exposure.
1994
Early summer sees the release of the 20 song, 29-minute opus "Bee Thousand." The first album to gain wide release thanks to a deal between Scat and indie giant Matador, many consider it the band's finest moment. "Everyone considers that to be our Tommy,'" says Pollard. "I think what makes that record so good is at that point I had kind of run out of the ideas that I had. I wasn't really writing at the time, so I went back through all of my catalogue in my brain of all the songs I had written and wrote down all the songs and things that hadn't been used. Then I just picked out the best parts out and made new songs. Like for "Tractor Rape Chain" I put four songs together. For the 20 songs that made the record, we recorded maybe 100 songs and those 100 songs were probably comprised of 300 other songs. It was supposed to be a double album."
The strength of both positive press and an ever-improving live set, bolstered by the return of bassist Greg Demos, drummer Kevin Fennell and guitarist Mitch Mitchell to the line-up, helps land the band on the second stage of that summer's Lollapalooza. Hometown friends the Breeders play Pollard's "Shocker In Gloomtown" on Palooza's main stage every night. When Demos quits the band (again) to become a lawyer, Breeder Kim Deal's boyfriend Jim Greer steps in to play bass.
1995
The band's first five, increasingly rare albums are re-released simply as "Box" with an album of outtakes called "King Shit And The Golden Boys" (the vinyl version contains a re-released "Propeller" too). "Alien Lanes" is released in June; this album is even more disjointed than the last and almost as amazing. With 28 songs in just over 40 minutes, initial reaction, from critics and peers, is indifference. "Kim Deal hated Alien Lanes,'" claims Pollard. "She said it was just too fragmented, too short, but that was the concept. You can finish the songs, yeah, but the point is those songs are finished. I didn't have any intention to make them any longer, that's what they were. We just discovered the four-track, and our ability to use it, so we went hog wild on it. Every time [Tobin Sprout and I] had an idea we recorded it immediately without even teaching the band the songs. It was almost spontaneous. I was the one doing the songs so that was the point of it." In addition to increased media presence, the band makes their first Toronto appearance opening for Urge Overkill. At the Toronto show, a beer-fuelled Pollard scuffles with, and is manhandled by club security after he attempts to have the band play an encore on the audience's request. Security drags him from the club. There is no encore.
1996
Jim Greer leaves the band. His replacement is the person he replaced, Greg Demos. The band works on a new record in Memphis at Easley Studios with Doug Easley producing. They also collect some tracks, recorded in Chicago with Steve Albini, from an aborted rock opera project about the evils of the music industry called "The Power of Suck." That plan is scrapped due to the band's disappointment with the recordings. They take the best parts of the Chicago recordings home, transfer them back onto four-track and rerecord segments before heading into a local Dayton studio, Cro Magnon, to record more new songs. The end result is "Under The Bushes Under The Stars." The band hits the road at the top of their game. With a cooler stuffed with cold Budweiser each and every night, the band plays for and parties with the crowd, with Pollard constantly juggling a new beer, a fresh smoke and a twirling microphone. The band is, at least for a moment, at an all-time high.
Tobin Sprout's wife gives birth to the couple's first child while the band is on tour, and he quits before the year is out. Pollard decides to make drastic changes, breaking up the whole band and starting over with new musicians. Only Mitchell, who is asked to switch to bass, remains. Mitchell either sees the move as a demotion or is simply fed up and quits before the next album is completed.
"Tobin's decision to quit had a huge impact," says Pollard. "It caused me to stop and pretty much rethink what Guided By Voices was and what I wanted to do with it. So that was when I made the decision to hire a new band, to break it down completely. I thought well, if Toby's not in the band anymore, it's a good time to start over. I thought I don't know where it is going, I am kind of directionless.'" In September, Matador simultaneously releases two solo albums, Pollard's "Not In My Airforce" and Sprout's "Carnival Boy."
1997
The fan club-only collection "Tonics and Twisted Chasers (Say It With Angel Dust)" is released in January; it consists of four-track recordings done only by Pollard and Sprout in 1996. Pollard enlists Cleveland-based band Cobra Verde to become the new Guided By Voices, often referred to as GBVerde. April sees the release their first real hi-fidelity recording, the classic rocking "Mag Earwhig!," alienating some devout lo-fi enthusiasts. "I consider Mag Earwhig!' to be our first kind of hi-fi record," declares Pollard. "Even though we did most of Under The Bushes Under The Stars' at a real studio, it still has our stamp of lo-fidelity on it." The friendship between Pollard and Verde leader John Petkovic takes a turn for the worse when the band hits the road. Personality clashes between Pollard and the Cobra Verde leader escalate throughout the tour and unconfirmed reports have members of the GBVerde line-up deliberately sabotaging Pollard's leadership by flubbing songs onstage, by disagreeing with Pollard in public and by ignoring fans during and after gigs all big no-nos in Pollard's eyes.
Pollard decides to can the band. In an interview with online magazine Addicted To Noise, (for whom Petkovic is writing a tour diary), Pollard spills the beans before informing the band of his decision. The band finds out before an October show in Newport, Kentucky with Superchunk, and confronts Pollard about it onstage. It is their last show together. By November, Pollard resurrects the band with a new line-up featuring, yep, Greg Demos on bass, Cobra Verde guitarist Doug Gillard and former Breeders drummer Jim Macpherson. In the meantime, Tobin Sprout records his second solo album, "Moonflower Plastic (Welcome To My Wigwam)," his last one on Matador.
1998
Pollard releases his second solo album, "Waved Out." The band spends much of the year working on new material, which Pollard decides to shop to different, bigger labels, eventually signing with TVT. The band, joined by new second guitarist Nate Farley (ex-Amps), heads into the studio with former Cars front-man Ric Ocasek producing. Pollard sets up a vanity label called the Fading Captain Series. "There was a time when I was between labels, between Matador and TVT when I really was contractually not allowed to do anything," explains Pollard, "but then at the bargaining table with TVT we made it so I could do this stuff at the side. That is really keeping me happy. I'm able to continue to create and that is what I want. That is kind of how I had it in the days around Bee Thousand' when we were pumping out all those EPs. That might have been part of the depression that I was in the last year or so. I like to crank out a lot of records. Some people think that is diluting what you do. I disagree. It is my art."
1999
While awaiting the release of the band's TVT debut, Pollard releases the first Fading Captain Series instalment, "Kid Marine." The underrated gem is Pollard's favourite solo effort. "Someone [wrote] it is just a bunch of basement jams," Pollard says. "That is just so far off the mark it is fucking unbelievable." The band's TVT debut "Do The Collapse" finally emerges in August. The record is a marked departure from earlier recordings. The production value installed on songs by Ocasek is the richest yet. The record disappoints many long-time fans while the media laps it up. Pollard sympathises, and admits to its gimmickry, but feels it stands on its own. "I like the record. I think it's quirky and cool but there are a lot of things I don't like about it as well. I'm not 100 percent satisfied with it, I'd say I am 80 percent satisfied with songs where I do not feel like cringing or wanting to skip over tracks." The band, with new bassist Tim Tobias, hits the road for a year.
Three new Fading Captain Series releases include Nightwalker, a fictional band supposedly made up of Pollard's friends from the 70s that play dark psychedelic music. Their album is one of Pollard's most criticised works, but is also one of his most adventurous. The second is a power rock collaboration between Pollard and a local Ohio band the Tasties, under the name Lexo and the Leapers. It sees the band cover ground similar to the GBVerde line-up. The third and arguably most accessible is the Pollard and Doug Gillard collaboration, "Speak Kindly Of Your Volunteer Fire Department." The majority of these songs soon find their way into the GBV live set. Tobin Sprout also releases a new solo record on his own Wigwam record label, "Lets Welcome The Circus People."
2000
Mini-album "Hold On Hope" is released; the title track is the band's closest thing to a ballad. Despite attention to commercial radio and an appearance on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," the track never catches on. By the middle of the year, it is nowhere to be found in the band's live set. After a year on the road, drummer Jim Macpherson quits to spend more time with his young family. Before the end of the year, Toronto resident Jon McCann replaces him. A four-CD box containing 100 unreleased songs comes out on Fading Captain Series. "Suitcase: Failed Experiments and Trashed Aircraft" contains material from Pollard's teenage years ("Little Jimmy The Giant") right up to the "Do The Collapse" sessions ("James Riot," "Shrine To The Dynamic Years"). GBV's leftovers, literally in a basement suitcase, still outshine many bands' best output. Two more Fading Captain Series releases include a collection of live songs recorded during a drunken 1990 jam in a closed video store, as the Hazard Hotrods; the second contains experimental psychedelic soundscapes done by Bob and younger brother Jimmy as the Howling Wolf Orchestra. Tobin Sprout debuts his new band, Eyesinweasel, with "Wrinkled Thoughts," a strong band effort of concise power pop that strongly tips the hat towards New Zealand pop.
2001
The toll of life on the road continues to be felt. Three of five band members, Pollard included, have long term relationships dissolve since "Do The Collapse." This month, the band releases their second major label album, "Isolation Drills." Recorded in New York with producer Rob Schnapf (Foo Fighters, Elliot Smith), it's a career landmark, the riffiest guitar-based record the band has ever done. It's also very dark yet surprisingly upbeat. "It's just kind of where I'm at," explains Pollard. "I have gone through all these changes in my life and I have always wanted to make a big, sad, powerful rock record like "Who's Next" or the third Big Star album. It all seemed to come together on this record. I've had a little bit of a downtime in my life maybe misery loves company, but I think you're more creative when you're sad. Out of that sadness comes an outpouring of creation.
"I think it's a better representation of the live sound," Pollard says. "It's less keyboard oriented and not quite as much gimmicky this time around, but I liked that about the last record. Obviously when we did our four-track stuff it didn't sound anything like it live and I thought that was kinda cool at the time because we sort of had this split personality thing going on."
For perhaps the first time in his career, Pollard's lyrics are not veiled at all. There are no songs about werewolves, fighter jets or robot boys. Instead, songs like the poignant "How's My Drinking" and "Fine To See You" show Pollard airing his laundry in public, as if exorcising ghosts of his past. They debut the whole record, nearly sober, on Valentine's Day in New York.
This year, Fading Captain Series will release a vinyl version of the "Hold On Hope" EP that will be re-titled "Daredevil Stamp Collector." The next release on the label will be by a new band Pollard christens Robert Pollard and His Soft Rock Renegades. Pollard calls the album, "Choreographed Men of War," "a really raw rock album that is highly progressive and majorly under-rehearsed"; it features former GBV band-mates Jim Macpherson and Greg Demos.
August will see the release of "Tower and Fountain Sparks," the debut album by Airport 5. It's the first pairing of Pollard and Sprout to since the "Tonics and Twisted Chasers" album six years earlier. Pollard says the record was done the same way as Tonics, with Sprout handling all the music and Pollard taking care of vocals, and he claims this new record to be even better. "Each song has a lot of choruses. It's really good to work with Toby again and all the hardcore fans are going to be really up for this." Look for the record to be preceded by two singles late this spring. Also look for a new Tobin Sprout solo record before year's end, which will find him recording with Jim Macpherson handling the drumming. According to Sprout the record will be much quieter than Eyesinweasel, who will also have a live record out this summer.
A third box set will be released before year's end, collecting GBV's first recording, "Forever Since Breakfast," as well as all out-of-print vinyl EPs and split releases, a new live CD and a DVD that Pollard says will be a surprise. The set was to come out on the Revenant label; no indication whether the recent death of label head John Fahey will interfere. The other major release, which Pollard expects to happen in the fall, is a collaboration between himself and Mac from Superchunk, though it has yet to be recorded.
Guided By Voices (and related projects) Discography
"Forever Since Breakfast" 12" EP (I Wanna, 1986)
"Devil Between My Toes" LP (E Records gbv 0001, 1987 ; Get Happy!!! Germany 1993) 300 copies made. Reissued on Germany's Get Happy! Records in 1993 with approximately 1000 pressed.
"Sandbox" LP (Halo, 1987) 1,000 copies made.
"Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia" LP (Halo, 1989) 500 copies made.
"Same Place the Fly Got Smashed" LP (Rocket #9, 1990) 500 copies made.
"Propeller" LP (Rockathon, 1992) 500 copies made.
"The Grand Hour" 7" EP (7"EP/CD5 on reissue) (Scat, scat 28-7, 1992)
"An Earful o' Wax" LP (Get Happy!!! Germany, big 01, 1993) All tracks are from the first five releases- same versions as on originals. There were 250 copies pressed on clear vinyl, and 800 on black.
"Vampire On Titus" LP (LP/CD on reissue) (Scat 31, 1993, Matador Europe 1993)
"If We Wait" split 7" (out of print) (Anyway #13, 1993)
"Static Airplane Jive" 7" EP (2nd reissue only on CD) (City Slang Germany 04939-7 1993, Recordhead LUNA 2 1996) This is available on CD only as a recent reissue from LUNA.
"Fast Japanese Spin Cycle" 7"/CD-EP (Engine vroom-07 1994)
"Clown Prince Of The Menthol Trailer" 7"/CDEP (out of print) (Domino UK RUG-11 1994) This is available on CD only as a recent reissue from LUNA.
"Hey Mr. Soundman" split 7" with the Grifters (out of print) (The Now Sound #2, 1994)
"Get Out Of My Stations" 7" EP (CD5 on reissue) (Siltbreeze SB028 1994)
"Bee Thousand" LP/CD (Scat 1994, Matador Europe 1994)
"Crying Your Knife Away" (Lo-Fi) Live at Stache's, Columbus, 18 June 1994. (CD Re-released September 1998)
"Always Crush Me" split 7" with Belreve (Anyway #21, 1994)
"I Am A Scientist" 7"/CD (Scat, scat 38-7, 1994)
"BOX" (Scat 40, 1995) 5 CD box set contains "Devil Between My Toes," "Sandbox," "Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia," "Same Place the Fly Got Smashed," and an album of outtakes that isn't available outside the box set: "King Shit and the Golden Boys" 6 LP box set has the same as well as "Propellor," because "Propellor" is now available as a separate CD.
"The Opposing Engineer" split 7" with New Radiant Storm King (Chunk CH4520, 1995) This record has GBV and NRSK covering each other.
"Alien Lanes" LP/CD (Matador OLE-123, April 4, 1995)
"For All Good Kids" (bootleg LP - no label) Live at Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ, 30 March 1995.
"Motor Away" 7" (Matador OLE-148-7 1995)
"Tigerbomb" 7" (Matador OLE-168, 1995)
"Under The Bushes, Under The Stars" 3-sided LP/CD (Matador OLE-161, 1996 /Bandai Records Japan, February 1997)
"Benefit for Winos" (Bootleg 2 LP - no label) Live at Gilly's, Dayton, 2 June 1996.
"Jellyfish Reflector" (Jellyfish 2 LP, Rockathon CD) Live at The Patio Club, Indianapolis, 17 February 1996.
"The Official Ironmen Rally Song" 7"/CD5 (Matador OLE-184, 1996)
"Cut-Out Witch" 7" (Matador UK 218-7, June 17 1996) This record is on a special limited edition of 1,000 picture disk with the Indian drummer guy from the UTBUTS sleeve as the design.
Tour split CD5 (Fellaheen AU JacK046-2, October 1996) with Superchunk. Was released to coincide with a GbV/Chunk Australian tour and Fellaheen's fifth year but the tour was cancelled due to personal problems.
"GVSB vs GBV - 8 Rounds" split CDEP (Radiopaque RR013)
"Plantations Of Pale Pink" 7" (Matador, November 19 1996)
"Sunfish Holy Breakfast" 12"/CDEP (Matador, November 19 1996)
"Live at the Whiskey A Go Go" (Rockathon) video. Recorded 10 May 1996.
"Tonics & Twisted Chasers" LP/CD (Rockathon, late December 1996/early January 1997) Only available in quantity of 1,000 on LP, in a variety of different colours. Sort of a fan club release. Re-released on CD about a year later, also in 1,000 copies, with five bonus tracks.
Split single with Cobra Verde (Wabana, March 10, 1997)
"Wish In One Hand" 7" EP (Jass, March 1997) There were 1000 copies of this, until it was reissued. Now there are more.
"Bulldog Skin" 7"/CD5 (Matador, May 5 1997)
"Mag Earwhig!" LP/CD (Matador, May 20 1997 / Bandai Records Japan, April 21 1998)
"I Am A Tree" 7"/CD5 (Matador, July 29 1997)
Surgical Focus 7" (TVT, June 22 1999) This comes with a neato spinning thing behind the die-cut front cover.
"Do The Collapse" LP/CD (TVT, August 3 1999) The album was released world-wide on Flying Nun (New Zealand), Mushroom (Australia), and Rock Records (Japan) in August, and on Creation (UK), East West (Germany), and Konkurrent (BeNeLux) in September. Those last four companies had "Avalanche Aminos" on their versions of the album.
"Teenage FBI" 7"/CD5 (Creation UK, September 13 1999)
"Teenage FBI" 7"/CD5 (Konkurrent, September 1999)
"Plugs For the Program" CDEP (TVT, November 1999) This is only available at Newbury Comics stores or from TVT mail order.
"Hold on Hope" 7"/CD single (Creation UK CRESCD 328, November 1999) The promo version of this single was the last thing Creation released before it went out of business, and it was never released commercially on vinyl or plastic.
"Hold on Hope" CDEP (TVT 1985-2, March 7, 2000) "Interest Position" is from the continental European "Teenage FBI" single. "Fly Into Ashes" is from the American "Surgical Focus" single and the British "Teenage FBI" single. "Tropical Robots" is on the British "Teenage FBI" single (and the American Flag's second album, out on Rockathon). "Avalanche Aminos" is from the UK version of "Do The Collapse." "Idiot Princess" is a re-recorded update of the song previously released as "Reptilian Beauty Secrets" and "Snuff Movie (She's Gone)." "Do The Collapse" is a short instrumental that sounds like "Girl From The Sun." "Underground Initiations" and "A Crick Uphill" are beauteous brand new songs.
"Dayton, Ohio - 19 Something and 5" 7" (#5 in the Fading Captain Series) (Rockathon, April 6 2000)
"Hold on Hope" CDEP (TVT Australia/New Zealand, May 2000)
"Suitcase: Failed Experiments and Trashed Aircraft" 4-CD box (#6 in the Fading Captain Series) (Rockathon, Sept. 12 2000)
"Suitcase Abridged: Drinks and Deliveries" LP (#7 in the Fading Captain Series) (Rockathon, Sept. 12 2000) 500 of these, on LP alone.
"Kings Ransom" 2LP (bootleg LP released with the band's consent, late 2000) 500 copies on coloured wax.
"Chasing Heather Crazy" 7" (TVT Records, March 2001)
"Isolation Drills" CD/LP (TVT Records, April 3, 2001)
Robert Pollard
"Not In My Airforce" LP/CD (Matador 215, September 10 1996)
"Waved Out" LP/CD (Matador, June 23 1998) Only on the Japanese version: "Aim Correctly" (different version from the one on the GBV/Cobra Verde split).
"Kid Marine" LP/CD (#1 in the Fading Captain Series) (Rockathon, early 1999) The vinyl was supposed to be limited to 500 copies, but it isn't.
Robert Pollard with Doug Gillard
"Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department" LP/CD (#4 in the Fading Captain Series) (Rockathon, November 1999) As usual the vinyl is said to be limited to 1,000, but who really knows? It's not extra expensive this time, which is good.
Tobin Sprout
"Carnival Boy" LP/CD (Matador 216, September 10 1996)
"Popstram" 7" EP (recordhead 03, November 19 1996)
"Moonflower Plastic (Welcome To My Wigwam)" LP/CD (Matador, August 26 1997)
"Wax Nails" CDEP (recordhead/wigwam, December 1998)
"Let's Welcome The Circus People" LP/CD (recordhead/wigwam, February 23 1999) The LP is supposedly limited to 500 copies and comes with a bonus 7" containing three tracks unavailable elsewhere.
Tobin Sprout/Eyesinweasel "Demos and Outtakes" 2LP/CD (recordhead/wigwam, late 1999/early 2000) 1000 copies of the gatefold vinyl version, and more than that of the CD version. Again the vinyl is also said to have more songs.
Eyesinweasel (Tobin Sprout's new band)
"Seven and Nine" 7" (recordhead / wigwam records, November 1999)
"Wrinkled Thoughts" CD (recordhead / wigwam records, 2000)
Freedom Cruise / Nightwalker
Freedom Cruise / Nightwalker split 7" (Simple Solutions, simplesolutions 002, 1995) Freedom Cruise = Guided by Voices. They also have a song called "Sensational Gravity Boy" on the "Red Hot + Bothered" compilation.
Nightwalker, "Firehouse Mountain" 7" (?, late 1997) One-sided 7" produced in quantity of 1,000 or less.
Nightwalker, "In Shop We Build Electric Chairs: Professional Music From Nightwalker 1984-93" CD/LP (#3 in the Fading Captain Series) (Rockathon, May 25 1999)
Bevil Web
Bevil Web / 3 Dream Bag split 7" EP (Simple Solutions SS-009, 1994)
"Minutemen" 7" (Wabana/Spirit Of Orr ORE 5, 1996) Bevil Web is Tobin Sprout, with Don Thrasher playing drums on "Dig The Catacombs" and "Gleemer". 3 Dream Bag are Greg Demos (bass on "Alien Lanes" and most of "Bee Thousand") and Don Thrasher (drums on some GBV releases).
(Mitch Mitchell's) Terrifying Experience
Mitch Mitchell's Terrifying Experience / Illyah Kuryahkin split 7" (Arena Rock AR004, 1996)
"I'm Invisible" 7" (Albert Ayler's Jukebox, AAJ 016, 1997)
"One After The End" 7" (Southern, 1998)
"Search For Omega Minus" CD (Albert Ayler's Jukebox, AAJ 109, 1998)
"Supreme Radial" CD (AAJ 1999)
"Anvil Jumper" 7" (Mental Telemetry, early September 1999)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4 7" EP (????, July 1985)
"Fig. 4" CD (recordhead, 1998)
Swearing At Motorists (GBV drummer Don Thrasher, and GBV soundman Davd Doughman)
"Tuesday's Pretzel Night" 7" EP (Spare Me 002, 1996)
"The Fear Of Low Flying Clouds" 12" EP (Spare Me 11, 1997)
"Swearing At Motorists" CD (Simple Solution SS014, 1997, originally on cassette, 1995)
"Enough Drama and the Way Things Are" 7" EP (Recordhead, Luna 7, 1997)
"Stumble to the Zero Hour" 7" (Punk In My Vitamins, 2000)
"Songs from the Mellow Struggle" CD (Secretly Canadian, 2000)
Number Seven Uptown" CD/LP (Secretly Canadian, 2000)
Lexo and the Leapers
"Ask Them" 12"EP/CDEP (#2 in the Fading Captain Series) (Rockathon, May 25 1999)
1970 to 1980
Drummer Kevin Fennell and guitarist Mitch Mitchell begin to play music together as teenagers in a band called Ambush. Mitch Mitchell and Robert Pollard later play in a heavy metal cover band called Anacrusis.
1980 to 1985
Robert Pollard, his younger brother Jimmy and Mitch Mitchell are often found at Dayton, Ohio clubs watching Fig. 4, one of their favourite local bands. The band features future GBV member Tobin Sprout on guitar. "They used to come to a lot of our local shows," explains Sprout. After a while, Pollard struck up a friendship with Sprout. "It took him a while to talk to us."
Pollard amuses himself writing songs, creating imaginary band names and album covers during his free time from his career teaching grade four. He says 14 years as a schoolteacher had a huge influence on his songwriting, especially lyrically. "For those years teaching, I was eight years old," explains Pollard. "Their ideas rubbed off on me, and I was in this kind of mythological world."
1986
The band makes it into a proper studio to record their first mini-album. The very R.E.M.-ish "Forever Since Breakfast," is released locally on the I Wanna label by a local college radio DJ. The band is disappointed, thinking it sounds over-produced, and swear off work in a real recording studio for nearly a decade. Fig. 4 guitarist Tobin Sprout joins the band on guitar soon after.
1987
Just before releasing "Devil Between My Toes," self-recorded on eight-track in friend Steve Wilbur's garage, Tobin Sprout quits the band and moves to Florida. Sprout plays guitar on parts of "Devil," but the record is primarily Pollard, bassist Mitch Mitchell and drummer Kevin Fennell. Pollard feels, even now, the record is one of the band's finest moments. "That's where I changed everything," he says. "It is where we really started making records for ourselves. Without a doubt it is the defining point for GBV at that time." By the end of the year, the band records "Sandbox," again in Steve Wilbur's garage. An experimental amalgamation of their influences, it lacks focus and is one of their least respected home-recorded albums.
1989
Back in the garage for the eight-track recording of "Self Inflicted Ariel Nostalgia," which hearkens back to the sound of their debut. Standout track "Liar's Tale" remains one of Pollard's finest compositions.
1990
The beginning of the ever-revolving Guided By Voices line-up begins with "Same Place The Fly Got Smashed," named after a spot on the wall of Pollard's Wright State dorm room where a fly did indeed get smashed and eaten. The songwriting on most of the record is a collaboration between Robert and brother Jimmy Pollard (both play guitar), while a new rhythm section is introduced, Greg Demos on bass and Don Thrasher on drums.
1992
While 1991 proves quiet, during this time Pollard prepares for what seemed to be a last ditch effort to propel the band out of Dayton. The result, "Propeller," consists of great songs Pollard has been sitting on until the right time. Originally a limited 500 copy pressing, all with individually made covers (some made by Pollard's grade four students during art class that year), the record also marks the return of Tobin Sprout. The record causes a stir when it's mailed out to press and labels behind Pollard's back by "manager for life" Pete Jamison. The band signs with Cleveland-based label Scat for their next record.
1993
Their Scat debut, "Vampire On Titus," is a mixture of four- and eight-track recordings. Sprout engineers the recording, featuring Bob Pollard (drums, some guitar and vocals) Jimmy Pollard (bass, guitar) and Tobin Sprout (guitar, vocals). The record, a real fan favourite over the years, contains two Sprout songs "Donkey School" and "Gleemer" marking the first time that GBV songs were not Pollard's. Sprout's songwriting contributions continue from then. "Vampire on Titus' was the first of three records that really put Guided By Voices on the map," claims Sprout.
"It is definitely one of my top three favourite albums I have ever made," adds Pollard. "Some things come out a little more angular they have more of an edge, they seem to be more cohesive. I am proud that a lot of fans say that is their favourite." The band is building a fan base outside of Dayton, helped by plugs from Sonic Youth and the Beastie Boys, as well as great reviews in Puncture and Alternative Press. Surprisingly for a band with a current reputation for lively performance, it is around the time the band ends their self-imposed exile from playing shows, which also broadens the band's exposure.
1994
Early summer sees the release of the 20 song, 29-minute opus "Bee Thousand." The first album to gain wide release thanks to a deal between Scat and indie giant Matador, many consider it the band's finest moment. "Everyone considers that to be our Tommy,'" says Pollard. "I think what makes that record so good is at that point I had kind of run out of the ideas that I had. I wasn't really writing at the time, so I went back through all of my catalogue in my brain of all the songs I had written and wrote down all the songs and things that hadn't been used. Then I just picked out the best parts out and made new songs. Like for "Tractor Rape Chain" I put four songs together. For the 20 songs that made the record, we recorded maybe 100 songs and those 100 songs were probably comprised of 300 other songs. It was supposed to be a double album."
The strength of both positive press and an ever-improving live set, bolstered by the return of bassist Greg Demos, drummer Kevin Fennell and guitarist Mitch Mitchell to the line-up, helps land the band on the second stage of that summer's Lollapalooza. Hometown friends the Breeders play Pollard's "Shocker In Gloomtown" on Palooza's main stage every night. When Demos quits the band (again) to become a lawyer, Breeder Kim Deal's boyfriend Jim Greer steps in to play bass.
1995
The band's first five, increasingly rare albums are re-released simply as "Box" with an album of outtakes called "King Shit And The Golden Boys" (the vinyl version contains a re-released "Propeller" too). "Alien Lanes" is released in June; this album is even more disjointed than the last and almost as amazing. With 28 songs in just over 40 minutes, initial reaction, from critics and peers, is indifference. "Kim Deal hated Alien Lanes,'" claims Pollard. "She said it was just too fragmented, too short, but that was the concept. You can finish the songs, yeah, but the point is those songs are finished. I didn't have any intention to make them any longer, that's what they were. We just discovered the four-track, and our ability to use it, so we went hog wild on it. Every time [Tobin Sprout and I] had an idea we recorded it immediately without even teaching the band the songs. It was almost spontaneous. I was the one doing the songs so that was the point of it." In addition to increased media presence, the band makes their first Toronto appearance opening for Urge Overkill. At the Toronto show, a beer-fuelled Pollard scuffles with, and is manhandled by club security after he attempts to have the band play an encore on the audience's request. Security drags him from the club. There is no encore.
1996
Jim Greer leaves the band. His replacement is the person he replaced, Greg Demos. The band works on a new record in Memphis at Easley Studios with Doug Easley producing. They also collect some tracks, recorded in Chicago with Steve Albini, from an aborted rock opera project about the evils of the music industry called "The Power of Suck." That plan is scrapped due to the band's disappointment with the recordings. They take the best parts of the Chicago recordings home, transfer them back onto four-track and rerecord segments before heading into a local Dayton studio, Cro Magnon, to record more new songs. The end result is "Under The Bushes Under The Stars." The band hits the road at the top of their game. With a cooler stuffed with cold Budweiser each and every night, the band plays for and parties with the crowd, with Pollard constantly juggling a new beer, a fresh smoke and a twirling microphone. The band is, at least for a moment, at an all-time high.
Tobin Sprout's wife gives birth to the couple's first child while the band is on tour, and he quits before the year is out. Pollard decides to make drastic changes, breaking up the whole band and starting over with new musicians. Only Mitchell, who is asked to switch to bass, remains. Mitchell either sees the move as a demotion or is simply fed up and quits before the next album is completed.
"Tobin's decision to quit had a huge impact," says Pollard. "It caused me to stop and pretty much rethink what Guided By Voices was and what I wanted to do with it. So that was when I made the decision to hire a new band, to break it down completely. I thought well, if Toby's not in the band anymore, it's a good time to start over. I thought I don't know where it is going, I am kind of directionless.'" In September, Matador simultaneously releases two solo albums, Pollard's "Not In My Airforce" and Sprout's "Carnival Boy."
1997
The fan club-only collection "Tonics and Twisted Chasers (Say It With Angel Dust)" is released in January; it consists of four-track recordings done only by Pollard and Sprout in 1996. Pollard enlists Cleveland-based band Cobra Verde to become the new Guided By Voices, often referred to as GBVerde. April sees the release their first real hi-fidelity recording, the classic rocking "Mag Earwhig!," alienating some devout lo-fi enthusiasts. "I consider Mag Earwhig!' to be our first kind of hi-fi record," declares Pollard. "Even though we did most of Under The Bushes Under The Stars' at a real studio, it still has our stamp of lo-fidelity on it." The friendship between Pollard and Verde leader John Petkovic takes a turn for the worse when the band hits the road. Personality clashes between Pollard and the Cobra Verde leader escalate throughout the tour and unconfirmed reports have members of the GBVerde line-up deliberately sabotaging Pollard's leadership by flubbing songs onstage, by disagreeing with Pollard in public and by ignoring fans during and after gigs all big no-nos in Pollard's eyes.
Pollard decides to can the band. In an interview with online magazine Addicted To Noise, (for whom Petkovic is writing a tour diary), Pollard spills the beans before informing the band of his decision. The band finds out before an October show in Newport, Kentucky with Superchunk, and confronts Pollard about it onstage. It is their last show together. By November, Pollard resurrects the band with a new line-up featuring, yep, Greg Demos on bass, Cobra Verde guitarist Doug Gillard and former Breeders drummer Jim Macpherson. In the meantime, Tobin Sprout records his second solo album, "Moonflower Plastic (Welcome To My Wigwam)," his last one on Matador.
1998
Pollard releases his second solo album, "Waved Out." The band spends much of the year working on new material, which Pollard decides to shop to different, bigger labels, eventually signing with TVT. The band, joined by new second guitarist Nate Farley (ex-Amps), heads into the studio with former Cars front-man Ric Ocasek producing. Pollard sets up a vanity label called the Fading Captain Series. "There was a time when I was between labels, between Matador and TVT when I really was contractually not allowed to do anything," explains Pollard, "but then at the bargaining table with TVT we made it so I could do this stuff at the side. That is really keeping me happy. I'm able to continue to create and that is what I want. That is kind of how I had it in the days around Bee Thousand' when we were pumping out all those EPs. That might have been part of the depression that I was in the last year or so. I like to crank out a lot of records. Some people think that is diluting what you do. I disagree. It is my art."
1999
While awaiting the release of the band's TVT debut, Pollard releases the first Fading Captain Series instalment, "Kid Marine." The underrated gem is Pollard's favourite solo effort. "Someone [wrote] it is just a bunch of basement jams," Pollard says. "That is just so far off the mark it is fucking unbelievable." The band's TVT debut "Do The Collapse" finally emerges in August. The record is a marked departure from earlier recordings. The production value installed on songs by Ocasek is the richest yet. The record disappoints many long-time fans while the media laps it up. Pollard sympathises, and admits to its gimmickry, but feels it stands on its own. "I like the record. I think it's quirky and cool but there are a lot of things I don't like about it as well. I'm not 100 percent satisfied with it, I'd say I am 80 percent satisfied with songs where I do not feel like cringing or wanting to skip over tracks." The band, with new bassist Tim Tobias, hits the road for a year.
Three new Fading Captain Series releases include Nightwalker, a fictional band supposedly made up of Pollard's friends from the 70s that play dark psychedelic music. Their album is one of Pollard's most criticised works, but is also one of his most adventurous. The second is a power rock collaboration between Pollard and a local Ohio band the Tasties, under the name Lexo and the Leapers. It sees the band cover ground similar to the GBVerde line-up. The third and arguably most accessible is the Pollard and Doug Gillard collaboration, "Speak Kindly Of Your Volunteer Fire Department." The majority of these songs soon find their way into the GBV live set. Tobin Sprout also releases a new solo record on his own Wigwam record label, "Lets Welcome The Circus People."
2000
Mini-album "Hold On Hope" is released; the title track is the band's closest thing to a ballad. Despite attention to commercial radio and an appearance on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," the track never catches on. By the middle of the year, it is nowhere to be found in the band's live set. After a year on the road, drummer Jim Macpherson quits to spend more time with his young family. Before the end of the year, Toronto resident Jon McCann replaces him. A four-CD box containing 100 unreleased songs comes out on Fading Captain Series. "Suitcase: Failed Experiments and Trashed Aircraft" contains material from Pollard's teenage years ("Little Jimmy The Giant") right up to the "Do The Collapse" sessions ("James Riot," "Shrine To The Dynamic Years"). GBV's leftovers, literally in a basement suitcase, still outshine many bands' best output. Two more Fading Captain Series releases include a collection of live songs recorded during a drunken 1990 jam in a closed video store, as the Hazard Hotrods; the second contains experimental psychedelic soundscapes done by Bob and younger brother Jimmy as the Howling Wolf Orchestra. Tobin Sprout debuts his new band, Eyesinweasel, with "Wrinkled Thoughts," a strong band effort of concise power pop that strongly tips the hat towards New Zealand pop.
2001
The toll of life on the road continues to be felt. Three of five band members, Pollard included, have long term relationships dissolve since "Do The Collapse." This month, the band releases their second major label album, "Isolation Drills." Recorded in New York with producer Rob Schnapf (Foo Fighters, Elliot Smith), it's a career landmark, the riffiest guitar-based record the band has ever done. It's also very dark yet surprisingly upbeat. "It's just kind of where I'm at," explains Pollard. "I have gone through all these changes in my life and I have always wanted to make a big, sad, powerful rock record like "Who's Next" or the third Big Star album. It all seemed to come together on this record. I've had a little bit of a downtime in my life maybe misery loves company, but I think you're more creative when you're sad. Out of that sadness comes an outpouring of creation.
"I think it's a better representation of the live sound," Pollard says. "It's less keyboard oriented and not quite as much gimmicky this time around, but I liked that about the last record. Obviously when we did our four-track stuff it didn't sound anything like it live and I thought that was kinda cool at the time because we sort of had this split personality thing going on."
For perhaps the first time in his career, Pollard's lyrics are not veiled at all. There are no songs about werewolves, fighter jets or robot boys. Instead, songs like the poignant "How's My Drinking" and "Fine To See You" show Pollard airing his laundry in public, as if exorcising ghosts of his past. They debut the whole record, nearly sober, on Valentine's Day in New York.
This year, Fading Captain Series will release a vinyl version of the "Hold On Hope" EP that will be re-titled "Daredevil Stamp Collector." The next release on the label will be by a new band Pollard christens Robert Pollard and His Soft Rock Renegades. Pollard calls the album, "Choreographed Men of War," "a really raw rock album that is highly progressive and majorly under-rehearsed"; it features former GBV band-mates Jim Macpherson and Greg Demos.
August will see the release of "Tower and Fountain Sparks," the debut album by Airport 5. It's the first pairing of Pollard and Sprout to since the "Tonics and Twisted Chasers" album six years earlier. Pollard says the record was done the same way as Tonics, with Sprout handling all the music and Pollard taking care of vocals, and he claims this new record to be even better. "Each song has a lot of choruses. It's really good to work with Toby again and all the hardcore fans are going to be really up for this." Look for the record to be preceded by two singles late this spring. Also look for a new Tobin Sprout solo record before year's end, which will find him recording with Jim Macpherson handling the drumming. According to Sprout the record will be much quieter than Eyesinweasel, who will also have a live record out this summer.
A third box set will be released before year's end, collecting GBV's first recording, "Forever Since Breakfast," as well as all out-of-print vinyl EPs and split releases, a new live CD and a DVD that Pollard says will be a surprise. The set was to come out on the Revenant label; no indication whether the recent death of label head John Fahey will interfere. The other major release, which Pollard expects to happen in the fall, is a collaboration between himself and Mac from Superchunk, though it has yet to be recorded.
Guided By Voices (and related projects) Discography
"Forever Since Breakfast" 12" EP (I Wanna, 1986)
"Devil Between My Toes" LP (E Records gbv 0001, 1987 ; Get Happy!!! Germany 1993) 300 copies made. Reissued on Germany's Get Happy! Records in 1993 with approximately 1000 pressed.
"Sandbox" LP (Halo, 1987) 1,000 copies made.
"Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia" LP (Halo, 1989) 500 copies made.
"Same Place the Fly Got Smashed" LP (Rocket #9, 1990) 500 copies made.
"Propeller" LP (Rockathon, 1992) 500 copies made.
"The Grand Hour" 7" EP (7"EP/CD5 on reissue) (Scat, scat 28-7, 1992)
"An Earful o' Wax" LP (Get Happy!!! Germany, big 01, 1993) All tracks are from the first five releases- same versions as on originals. There were 250 copies pressed on clear vinyl, and 800 on black.
"Vampire On Titus" LP (LP/CD on reissue) (Scat 31, 1993, Matador Europe 1993)
"If We Wait" split 7" (out of print) (Anyway #13, 1993)
"Static Airplane Jive" 7" EP (2nd reissue only on CD) (City Slang Germany 04939-7 1993, Recordhead LUNA 2 1996) This is available on CD only as a recent reissue from LUNA.
"Fast Japanese Spin Cycle" 7"/CD-EP (Engine vroom-07 1994)
"Clown Prince Of The Menthol Trailer" 7"/CDEP (out of print) (Domino UK RUG-11 1994) This is available on CD only as a recent reissue from LUNA.
"Hey Mr. Soundman" split 7" with the Grifters (out of print) (The Now Sound #2, 1994)
"Get Out Of My Stations" 7" EP (CD5 on reissue) (Siltbreeze SB028 1994)
"Bee Thousand" LP/CD (Scat 1994, Matador Europe 1994)
"Crying Your Knife Away" (Lo-Fi) Live at Stache's, Columbus, 18 June 1994. (CD Re-released September 1998)
"Always Crush Me" split 7" with Belreve (Anyway #21, 1994)
"I Am A Scientist" 7"/CD (Scat, scat 38-7, 1994)
"BOX" (Scat 40, 1995) 5 CD box set contains "Devil Between My Toes," "Sandbox," "Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia," "Same Place the Fly Got Smashed," and an album of outtakes that isn't available outside the box set: "King Shit and the Golden Boys" 6 LP box set has the same as well as "Propellor," because "Propellor" is now available as a separate CD.
"The Opposing Engineer" split 7" with New Radiant Storm King (Chunk CH4520, 1995) This record has GBV and NRSK covering each other.
"Alien Lanes" LP/CD (Matador OLE-123, April 4, 1995)
"For All Good Kids" (bootleg LP - no label) Live at Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ, 30 March 1995.
"Motor Away" 7" (Matador OLE-148-7 1995)
"Tigerbomb" 7" (Matador OLE-168, 1995)
"Under The Bushes, Under The Stars" 3-sided LP/CD (Matador OLE-161, 1996 /Bandai Records Japan, February 1997)
"Benefit for Winos" (Bootleg 2 LP - no label) Live at Gilly's, Dayton, 2 June 1996.
"Jellyfish Reflector" (Jellyfish 2 LP, Rockathon CD) Live at The Patio Club, Indianapolis, 17 February 1996.
"The Official Ironmen Rally Song" 7"/CD5 (Matador OLE-184, 1996)
"Cut-Out Witch" 7" (Matador UK 218-7, June 17 1996) This record is on a special limited edition of 1,000 picture disk with the Indian drummer guy from the UTBUTS sleeve as the design.
Tour split CD5 (Fellaheen AU JacK046-2, October 1996) with Superchunk. Was released to coincide with a GbV/Chunk Australian tour and Fellaheen's fifth year but the tour was cancelled due to personal problems.
"GVSB vs GBV - 8 Rounds" split CDEP (Radiopaque RR013)
"Plantations Of Pale Pink" 7" (Matador, November 19 1996)
"Sunfish Holy Breakfast" 12"/CDEP (Matador, November 19 1996)
"Live at the Whiskey A Go Go" (Rockathon) video. Recorded 10 May 1996.
"Tonics & Twisted Chasers" LP/CD (Rockathon, late December 1996/early January 1997) Only available in quantity of 1,000 on LP, in a variety of different colours. Sort of a fan club release. Re-released on CD about a year later, also in 1,000 copies, with five bonus tracks.
Split single with Cobra Verde (Wabana, March 10, 1997)
"Wish In One Hand" 7" EP (Jass, March 1997) There were 1000 copies of this, until it was reissued. Now there are more.
"Bulldog Skin" 7"/CD5 (Matador, May 5 1997)
"Mag Earwhig!" LP/CD (Matador, May 20 1997 / Bandai Records Japan, April 21 1998)
"I Am A Tree" 7"/CD5 (Matador, July 29 1997)
Surgical Focus 7" (TVT, June 22 1999) This comes with a neato spinning thing behind the die-cut front cover.
"Do The Collapse" LP/CD (TVT, August 3 1999) The album was released world-wide on Flying Nun (New Zealand), Mushroom (Australia), and Rock Records (Japan) in August, and on Creation (UK), East West (Germany), and Konkurrent (BeNeLux) in September. Those last four companies had "Avalanche Aminos" on their versions of the album.
"Teenage FBI" 7"/CD5 (Creation UK, September 13 1999)
"Teenage FBI" 7"/CD5 (Konkurrent, September 1999)
"Plugs For the Program" CDEP (TVT, November 1999) This is only available at Newbury Comics stores or from TVT mail order.
"Hold on Hope" 7"/CD single (Creation UK CRESCD 328, November 1999) The promo version of this single was the last thing Creation released before it went out of business, and it was never released commercially on vinyl or plastic.
"Hold on Hope" CDEP (TVT 1985-2, March 7, 2000) "Interest Position" is from the continental European "Teenage FBI" single. "Fly Into Ashes" is from the American "Surgical Focus" single and the British "Teenage FBI" single. "Tropical Robots" is on the British "Teenage FBI" single (and the American Flag's second album, out on Rockathon). "Avalanche Aminos" is from the UK version of "Do The Collapse." "Idiot Princess" is a re-recorded update of the song previously released as "Reptilian Beauty Secrets" and "Snuff Movie (She's Gone)." "Do The Collapse" is a short instrumental that sounds like "Girl From The Sun." "Underground Initiations" and "A Crick Uphill" are beauteous brand new songs.
"Dayton, Ohio - 19 Something and 5" 7" (#5 in the Fading Captain Series) (Rockathon, April 6 2000)
"Hold on Hope" CDEP (TVT Australia/New Zealand, May 2000)
"Suitcase: Failed Experiments and Trashed Aircraft" 4-CD box (#6 in the Fading Captain Series) (Rockathon, Sept. 12 2000)
"Suitcase Abridged: Drinks and Deliveries" LP (#7 in the Fading Captain Series) (Rockathon, Sept. 12 2000) 500 of these, on LP alone.
"Kings Ransom" 2LP (bootleg LP released with the band's consent, late 2000) 500 copies on coloured wax.
"Chasing Heather Crazy" 7" (TVT Records, March 2001)
"Isolation Drills" CD/LP (TVT Records, April 3, 2001)
Robert Pollard
"Not In My Airforce" LP/CD (Matador 215, September 10 1996)
"Waved Out" LP/CD (Matador, June 23 1998) Only on the Japanese version: "Aim Correctly" (different version from the one on the GBV/Cobra Verde split).
"Kid Marine" LP/CD (#1 in the Fading Captain Series) (Rockathon, early 1999) The vinyl was supposed to be limited to 500 copies, but it isn't.
Robert Pollard with Doug Gillard
"Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department" LP/CD (#4 in the Fading Captain Series) (Rockathon, November 1999) As usual the vinyl is said to be limited to 1,000, but who really knows? It's not extra expensive this time, which is good.
Tobin Sprout
"Carnival Boy" LP/CD (Matador 216, September 10 1996)
"Popstram" 7" EP (recordhead 03, November 19 1996)
"Moonflower Plastic (Welcome To My Wigwam)" LP/CD (Matador, August 26 1997)
"Wax Nails" CDEP (recordhead/wigwam, December 1998)
"Let's Welcome The Circus People" LP/CD (recordhead/wigwam, February 23 1999) The LP is supposedly limited to 500 copies and comes with a bonus 7" containing three tracks unavailable elsewhere.
Tobin Sprout/Eyesinweasel "Demos and Outtakes" 2LP/CD (recordhead/wigwam, late 1999/early 2000) 1000 copies of the gatefold vinyl version, and more than that of the CD version. Again the vinyl is also said to have more songs.
Eyesinweasel (Tobin Sprout's new band)
"Seven and Nine" 7" (recordhead / wigwam records, November 1999)
"Wrinkled Thoughts" CD (recordhead / wigwam records, 2000)
Freedom Cruise / Nightwalker
Freedom Cruise / Nightwalker split 7" (Simple Solutions, simplesolutions 002, 1995) Freedom Cruise = Guided by Voices. They also have a song called "Sensational Gravity Boy" on the "Red Hot + Bothered" compilation.
Nightwalker, "Firehouse Mountain" 7" (?, late 1997) One-sided 7" produced in quantity of 1,000 or less.
Nightwalker, "In Shop We Build Electric Chairs: Professional Music From Nightwalker 1984-93" CD/LP (#3 in the Fading Captain Series) (Rockathon, May 25 1999)
Bevil Web
Bevil Web / 3 Dream Bag split 7" EP (Simple Solutions SS-009, 1994)
"Minutemen" 7" (Wabana/Spirit Of Orr ORE 5, 1996) Bevil Web is Tobin Sprout, with Don Thrasher playing drums on "Dig The Catacombs" and "Gleemer". 3 Dream Bag are Greg Demos (bass on "Alien Lanes" and most of "Bee Thousand") and Don Thrasher (drums on some GBV releases).
(Mitch Mitchell's) Terrifying Experience
Mitch Mitchell's Terrifying Experience / Illyah Kuryahkin split 7" (Arena Rock AR004, 1996)
"I'm Invisible" 7" (Albert Ayler's Jukebox, AAJ 016, 1997)
"One After The End" 7" (Southern, 1998)
"Search For Omega Minus" CD (Albert Ayler's Jukebox, AAJ 109, 1998)
"Supreme Radial" CD (AAJ 1999)
"Anvil Jumper" 7" (Mental Telemetry, early September 1999)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4 7" EP (????, July 1985)
"Fig. 4" CD (recordhead, 1998)
Swearing At Motorists (GBV drummer Don Thrasher, and GBV soundman Davd Doughman)
"Tuesday's Pretzel Night" 7" EP (Spare Me 002, 1996)
"The Fear Of Low Flying Clouds" 12" EP (Spare Me 11, 1997)
"Swearing At Motorists" CD (Simple Solution SS014, 1997, originally on cassette, 1995)
"Enough Drama and the Way Things Are" 7" EP (Recordhead, Luna 7, 1997)
"Stumble to the Zero Hour" 7" (Punk In My Vitamins, 2000)
"Songs from the Mellow Struggle" CD (Secretly Canadian, 2000)
Number Seven Uptown" CD/LP (Secretly Canadian, 2000)
Lexo and the Leapers
"Ask Them" 12"EP/CDEP (#2 in the Fading Captain Series) (Rockathon, May 25 1999)
