Guided By Voices
Half-Smiles Of The Decomposed
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Guided By Voices
Half-Smiles Of The Decomposed
Matador, 2004
RiYL: The Move, the Pretty Things, the Zombies |
Actually the truth is: he will never be gone. Mr. Pollard of Ohio has foisted upon the public an overwhelming amount of music over the past 20 years. He promises to continue making it for years to come. And yet, here in my hands is the last Guided By Voices album. What to make of it?
Given how much control Pollard has historically exerted over the band -- it is basically his vehicle, though certain lineups lasted longer than others and certain alums can certainly claim playing a big part in the band's history -- breaking up GBV is not that final of a proposition. Who wants to take a bet that within the next three years we'll have new albums featuring songs written by Robert Pollard, with instrumentation by Doug Gillard, Tobin Sprout, Nate Farley...any number of GBV notables? Sure, of course it'll happen.
So what is this decomposing all about then? Well, it's about a guy who is getting older and maybe a bit tired of the cross-country van trips, the marathon concerts with leg kicks and posturing, the cases upon cases of beer. OK, maybe not the beer. As much of an appreciation for rock history as the guy obviously has, he must look at retiring the GBV name as a way of locking in the group's legacy. Yes, the lines have been blurred over the years as to what is "solo" Pollard, side projects, or GBV proper. But if you want to take it strictly, we only have about a dozen albums that actually make up the "full-length, official GBV" catalog. And this will allow us to look back on it in discrete fondness.
Plus, Half-Smiles Of The Decomposed is as good a place to end as any.
The album isn't a certified classic like Alien Lanes or Under The Bushes, Under The Stars, but it does have a healthy dollop of Pollard's trademark effortless pop perfection. "Girls Of Wild Strawberries" and "Window Of My World" are chiming, uplifting tunes that echo back to the compressed pop sound of last year's Earthquake Glue. They also have in them the essence of some of history's greatest rock/pop music, specifically the psych-pop Nuggets era, with which Pollard has long been enamoured.
There are for sure a handful of duds here -- the meandering "Asia Minor" and lethargic "Sing For Your Meat" come to mind -- but moments like the chorus of "The Closets Of Henry" (not to mention its title) should find purchase in the welcoming minds of most GBV fans.
Fittingly, this swan song album's strongest moment is its closer, "Huffman Prairie Flying Field." The soaring rocker seems doesn't even seem like it would fit that well into the band's current live show, but as the last track on the last GBV album it's perfect -- the last thing you'll hear before you eject the CD from your car stereo and put in something else. Pollard's lyrics seem to speak to his fans in cliche generalities. If you like rock, you came to the right guy:
"And if that's where you think you'll go / Then that's where you'll go / And if that's what you want to hear / Then that's what I will sell you."
A listen to Pollard's latest solo album, Fiction Man, will give you a hint that he's not done making music. But Half-Smiles does come with a veneer of celebratory finality. Let's all raise a glass (whoops, a bottle) to one of the finest bands of our time, and allow them the respect they've earned.
TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.