Guided by Voices- Motivational Jumpsuit (2014)

Guided by Voices- Motivational Jumpsuit (2014)

The thing is, I was a very big fan of Guided By Voices a couple of years ago, well like 15 years ago, to be exact, lately, Guided`s main man Robert Pollard has been assembling a new version of the band and putting records at a frantic pace, along with solo recordings, but I must admit, none of them as satisfying as his 90`s recording, not until now, that Pollard seems to have hit his muse once again, this time with Motivational Jumpsuit, a record that captures that early GVB promise in a big way.

Guided By Voice stuff is a complex thing, it has that messy and druggy vibe from Syd Floyd (as I name Pink Floyd period with the great Syd Barrett), the destructive attitude of the early Who, some touches of the psychedelia pop of the Byrds and the Beach Boys and the appliance of the lo fi aesthetics of the 90s, that, and yes, Pollard neurotic discharge, as the man fights regularly with writer`s block, that once he overcomes it, ends up with a long string of records, this, Motivational Jumpsuit, the latest of them.

Littlest League Possible (a tune not about baseball, but about major and indie labels) might be GBV best tunes since his glory days, big drums opening doors with thunderous sounds, and the big mess that is GBV opening and bleeding all over as Pollard voice of a prophet attacks immediately, in the way the great Roger Daltrey does, the impact is big, but the effect last little, as the tune is precise, short and leaves us with little, Pollard keeps the best stuff short, very short shall I say in order for us wanting more, a good strategy but not very well used here, as Until Next Time put the adrenaline of the first tune down, as we are faced here by an almost acoustic tune, showing perfectly GBV lo fi aesthetic pop approach, a kind of rock opera in the way The Who does, perfectly channeled here by Pollard, right after been abrupt hit once again with another harsh detour, as Writer`s Bloc (Psycho All the Time) suddenly materializes, with its distorted guitars barking at Pollard, who is clearly decided to keep thing difficult this time, its admirable how he keeps his artistic vision all the time, shaking up things, never been too complacent and challenging.

A title like Child Activist makes me laugh a little, but wait, there`s the great Malala Yousafzai, which maybe Pollard may be addressing here, a song with powerful guitars roaring guitars and wha`s all over, that after a few seconds gives way to the solid rock drumming of Planet Score, a great tune that dissolves into abrasive noise as it ends quickly, just to be followed by Pollard 60`s obsessive Jupiter Spin, with psychedelic vocals and bleeding guitars all over, continuing with that trend on the heart moving Saved the Company, in which Pollard gives a great vocal showing.

In the past, I always thought of Pollard and company as R.E.M. from a bizarre universe, not afraid of showing their love for the jangle rock of the Byrds, but also not being afraid of distortion and noise, and that wild mix is shown in Record Level Love, which could be Stipe and company ferocious, concentrated and inspired like in the good old times.

GBV voices output might be a little bit ridiculous, there’s a lot of good songs on Motivational Jumpsuit, but there`s also some mediocre ones, but the point here is that Pollard is more obsessed by recording his confessions about life, than creating hit songs, and every song lacks a beginning or an end, just as the whole record, this might just be a day in the life of GBV and Robert Pollard, and not a transcendental recording, but I must also add, that Pollard and company haven’t had a day like this in a long, long time, a great recording, and a strong showing that GBV is on track again, for how long? Who cares?