Josh Stephenson - 3/20/2012
Robert Pollard is so prolific I don't think it would be unfair to assume that no one in the whole world owns his entire discography. Christ, it was hard enough keeping up with the constant stream of Guided By Voices LP's, never mind his solo stuff. Yet, that's irrelevant because everyone knows that the only Pollard records you really need are with the 'classic' line-up of Guided By Voices. Yes, you know the ones 'Bee Thousand', 'Alien Lines', 'Under The Bushes, Under The Stars', and 'Propeller' if you really want to get Lo-Fi. Those classic records that would jump from track to track, idea to idea, minute to minute, they were exciting, memorable, and most of all damn good rock albums. Since that line-up retired there's been some minor successes along the way, but nothing to match up to those golden years. Thus, it was with great anticipation that I heard that the 'classic' line-up of Guided By Voices were reforming, and better yet recording new material. So how does 'Let's Go Eat The Factory' measure up to their past glories? Well one things for certain it's instantly recognisable as the 'classic' line-up, no other iteration of Guided By Voices could put this out, and more importantly there are some really good tracks on this album that match up to the best they've ever done.
Certain tracks like 'Laundry and Lasers' are instantly recognisable, a Lo-Fi recording style (all of the tracks on the album were recorded in member's basements), echoing guitar that blows up into this chugging riff, and Pollard's vocal raw and immediate, disappearing and reappearing into the mix at a moment's notice. Tracks like 'The Head' that has a great bass line, and this basic riff-y guitar that just when it starts to get going, abruptly ends. 'The Unsinkable Fats Domino' which is the lead single of the album, and you can see why it's a really catchy rock song with an inescapable hook. One of the highlights comes on the track 'Spiderfighter' with its psych-rock tendencies, Pollard's vocal struggling to be heard over the Lo-Fi mix, and guitars exchanging riffs. Until halfway through the track the tone shifts into this simple piano ballad, as a resigned Pollard softly sings 'And now is the time/I make up your mind'. It's a really good track that shows off the capability Guided By Voices have to mash-up various sounds at a moments notice.
Of course these Lo-Fi indie rockers are just half of what makes a great Guided By Voices album, you also need those obscure oddities that come out of nowhere and leave a massive impact on you. In 'Doughnut For A Snowman' you have one of those tracks, it may well be the sweetest song that Guided By Voices have ever recorded with its delicate strums of acoustic guitar, this really joyful flute, and strokes of violin combining beautifully with these nonsensical lyrics about a girl and her snowman. Whilst 'Doughnut For A Snowman' may be saccharine sweet, 'Hang Mr. Kite' is anything but. It's filled with these dark, ominous violins that fill every part of the song, as Pollard drolly sings about how after hanging Mr. Kite he'll be flying high in the sky. The final oddity comes in the track 'Old Bones', which combines these reverbed vocals and bagpipes that sound like a really screwed up version of 'Auld Lang Syne', but Pollard sings these wonderfully beautiful lyrics about an aging relationship 'We are old and grey/I hope to take your hand in mind/Oh, my heart is true/My love for you is real', it's a gorgeous song and shows the delicate side of Guided By Voices.
Unfortunately there are some particularly average tracks on this album that hold it back from being a true classic, but of course they're all so short that they aren't overtly detrimental to the album as a whole. 'My Europa' has this really weird distorted acoustic guitar that feels like an assault on my ears, whilst Pollard's vocal been so high-pitched is not helping the cause much either. 'How I Met Your Mother', Things That Never Need', and 'Either Nelson' are the definition of filler tracks solid, but instantly forgettable. Tracks like 'Go Rolling Home' and 'Room Taking Shape' are both perfectly solid acoustic numbers, but both come in at under a minute and so again feel severely under-developed. 'Imperial Racehorsing' is one of the most conflicting tracks on the album, starting off average and going through various tempo changes, before settling into this fantastic hooky chorus and finishing on this huge solo. It's a track I can't decide whether I love it or hate it.
This though is the true credence of a Guided By Voices album, any band that is willing to genre hop as much as they do are going to release an album that can feel disjointed and at times over-whelming. Yet, if you give it repeated listens all the tiny facets of each song start to reveal themselves to you, 'Chocolate Boy' sounds like a straightforward pop-rock song on first listen but with further listens the deranged lyrics and subtle strings in the background start to come further to the forefront, and it became one of my favourite songs on the album. 'We Won't Apologise For The Human Race' closes the album in style, clocking in at over four minutes long it's an epic by GBV standards, starting off with this really intense, driven sound with chugging guitars, pounding drums and sharp violins, it mutates into this really sweet chorus, with empowering lyrics and some great backing vocals before switching again into this psychedelic riff session to close the song.
Sure this album is patchy at times and could probably have done with knocking five or so minutes of the runtime, but you just don't get too many bands like Guided By Voices anymore. Bands that take a simple idea, play it out to its logical conclusion and then move onto the next one. For that reason alone 'Let's Go Eat The Factory' is a success and with a second album already announced for this year, the future looks bright for Guided By Voices fans.