Guided by Voices GBV lives again / Robert Pollard / new disc

My favorite GBV albums are the ones with Gillard, starting with Collapse and ending with Half Smiles. Is ABC at the level of those albums?

 

Not in my opinion, but it is very, very good.

 

I've had the cd about a week. Really solid album. Killer opening track. While the other 4 guys' songs aren't going to make you forget Toby Sprout, their contributions are all good and make for a nice change of pace across the double album.

Better than ESP Ohio and Ricked Wicky, IMO.

 

Exciting new GBV live line-up - Robert Pollard (vocals), Kevin March (drums), Doug Gillard (guitar), Bobby Bare Jr. (guitar), Mark Shue (bass)

FRI 07.28.17 - Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen
**SOLD OUT**

SAT 07.29.17 - Chicago, IL - Wicker Park Fest
$10 suggested charitable donation at the gate

WED 08.16.17 - Cincinnati, OH - The Woodward

THU 08.17.17 - Bloomington, IL - The Castle Theatre

SAT 08.19.17 - Minneapolis, MN - Hilde Performance Center
with Soul Asylum and The Suicide Commandos

SUN 08.20.17 - Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall
MILWAUKEE CANCELLED - refunds available at place of purchase

THU 08.31.17 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
**SOLD OUT**

FRI 09.01.17 - Asbury Park, NJ - House of Independents

FRI 09.08.17 - Rehoboth Beach, DE - Dogfish Head Brewery
**FREE**

SAT 09.09.17 - Brooklyn, NY - OctFest at the Brooklyn Hangar

 

Definitely a fan of the band. Not an obsessive, completist fan, but a big admirer and listener nonetheless.

My favorite thing Bob Pollard ever said on stage was, "Kids, we're better than Blue Cheer, but not as good as the Who."

 

Going to Baltimore, Jersey and Delaware..can't wait!

 

Got Beat Kitchen tix and planning on seeing them the next night and Bloomington as well. Hoping they have copies of the new album available at Beat Kitchen.

 

I'll be at the Baltimore (it's my birthday!) and Asbury Park shows. Debating the Brooklyn show as The Sadies are on the bill as well.

 

of course the brewery show is free, they are gonna sell (and mop up) a ton of beer! LOL

 

And Charles Bradley!

 

I really wish I was heading to the Beat Kitchen show. Sadly I was expecting to be out of town that weekend and didn't find out until well after tickets were gone that I wouldn't be. Hopefully I can make it to see them at Wicker Park Fest, but that won't be the same. Regardless, looking forward to the new album!

 

Charles Bradley is on the evening bill. It's two separate bills with two separate admission costs. $60 each.

 

Really?! That sucks

 

My local had a reasonably priced copy of Suitcase 2, so I picked it up over lunch. Now I just need the first one.

 

I finally just bought the first one!

 

Suitcase 3 is nearly impossible to find. Finally nabbed one on ebay.

 

I was fortunate enough to have bought 3 & 4 right as they were released. Took some time to get 2, but I'm glad I found it for such a good price. I'll just have to keep hoping for 1, one of these days.

 

My least favorite one.

 

Maybe one day I'll even play mine.

 

I have the first Suitcase, but I'll admit. It wears me out. 100 songs -- many of them demos, some of them barely that -- scattered over four CDs. I have to really be in the mood to go down that rabbit hole.

 

So again, how is this new one, August By Cake? I have this feeling GBV is slipping into mediocrity, this new one is not even close to my favorite years of the band with Gillard on Universal Truths, Earwig, Isolation, Collapse, Earthquake, Half Smiles.

I sure didn't buy Please Be Honest.

 

I thought ABC was better than PBH. PBH ended up being better than I thought it was but I still feel it's a Pollard solo album but I understand him doing it on his own and calling it GBV. He's always said he is GBV.

 

I agree. Still, several tracks that made it a must-buy for me...love the demo of "Huffman Prarie Flying Field".....

 

I've "had" a burned copy of the first Suitcase since shortly after it came out, it's actually been my least favorite in the series. Oddly enough, the latter ones seem to have a slightly better hit to miss ratio, which you wouldn't expect. There are still some real head scratchers on all of them, but I love the nerdy detail that goes into 'em with the fake band names and all. As a kid who used to invent fictional labels filled with fictional bands and a fictional release schedule that planned out everything down to the B-sides, I appreciate that level of music geekery.

 

I think August By Cake is really good. This new line-up is fantastic, actually. Having Doug back on board has seemed to really reinvigorated Bob. The ESP Ohio album they did together is pretty damn great as well