Feb 12, 2016
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"Guided By Guided By Voices"
A partial guide to modern bands mining the GBV aesthetic:
Little Whirls: It's in the name. A nice melancholy vibe with some finely honed hooks, from Germany.
https://littlewhirls.bandcamp.com/album/sedateness-at-the-movies
Jackie: The more concise songs (like Concrete Fields), have a definite melancholy GBV vibe. The more expansive songs go in a more general classic 90's indie direction. From Sweden.
https://jjaacckkiiee.bandcamp.com/
Graham Repulski: Definitely mining the more chaotic, fragmentary end of GBV. Sometimes sacrificing hooks in the process, but if you like GBV at their gnarliest, Repulski nail that feeling.
https://grahamrepulski.bandcamp.com/
Italian Horn: Possibly inactive, NYC dude, buries some strong Pollard-esque melodies under ample, dreamy waves of fuzz. Only one release on DAIS records with a Pollard collage for the album cover!
https://soundcloud.com/italianhorn
Full Crumb: Maybe more indebted to Cleaners From Venus, but GBV is definitely in there too, with short songs and surreal lyrics. From the UK.
https://fullcrumb.bandcamp.com/
Snow What: Maybe a little more Archers of Loaf than GBV, but another strong GBV-inspired band from Long Island's 90's classicist label Rok Lok Records.
https://roklokrecords.bandcamp.com/album/so-far-so-good
Kent State: Blurry noise rock with paranoid conspiracy driven lyrics, LA's Kent State draws as much from hardcore as they do from GBV, but collage covers and a Pimple Zoo cover, tip their hand to the church of Bob.
https://kentstate.bandcamp.com/album/the-wrong-side-of-history
Merry Christmas: So-Cal band blends emo and power-pop influences with Isolation Drills-esque hooks.
https://merrychristmas.bandcamp.com/album/various-and-a-sundry
BYODeath: Inactive. A shoegaze and punk filtered take on the under two minute pop song.
https://bridgetownrecords.bandcamp.com/album/snowy-eyes
Connections: One of the more polished bands in this style. A mid-west power-pop take on GBV. Strong hooks and maybe the most convientionally rocking band on this list.
https://connectionsband.bandcamp.com/
Bloomshock: If you dig the late-night loner side of GBV, Bloomshock already has dozens of Bandcamp releases, all of them on the verge of falling apart until that one hook comes through to keep it all going.
https://bloomshock.bandcamp.com/music
Mythical Motors: Another noisy, power-pop injected take on the GBV sound. Capable of a smoother sound than some of these bands, but equally adept at rocking out snottily.
https://mythicalmotors.bandcamp.com/
Von Hayes: Inactive? The GBV copycat's GBV copycat. One of the first, and definitely purists.
https://vonhayes.bandcamp.com/
Joseph Airport: Officially endorsed. Joseph Airport have a release on Bob's own label, Rockathon. A slightly spacier take on the classic sound.
https://josephairport.bandcamp.com/album/stronger-and-better
Capstan Shafts: Starting way back in 2004!, The Capstan Shafts combine the GBV aesthetic with the jittery nervous strum of the Wedding Present. A deep discography to explore.
https://thecapstanshafts.bandcamp.com/
Smug Brothers: From Dayton, Ohio! They even have band photos that seem to mimic old GBV photos. Does Bob know these guys? Is he scared of them? Anyway, pretty acomplished take on the more arena-rockish side of GBV.
https://smugbrothers.bandcamp.com
Broadfield Marchers: very Tobin Sprout-ish vocals, with a bit of early Shins thrown in. Collage covers, so you know they for real.
https://broadfieldmarchers.bandcamp.com/music
Naked Ant: A sad, sleepy take on GBV. Like GBV with Lou Barlow on vocals maybe.
https://nakedant.bandcamp.com/
Dolby Fuckers: A schizophrenic take on GBV with a definite Siltbreeze noisefuck influence, like GBV on PCP, but check out “Butter and Olive Value Pies” or “Liam Leeds” for some real Pollard-esque hooks.
https://dolbyfuckers.bandcamp.com/releases
Shockwave Rider: A grungey and psychedelic take on GBV. Loud guitars/Strong hooks. Rock & Roll.
https://tiredorbitrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-shining
Honey Radar: Sharing the absurdly short song/off the cuff nonsense lyrics aesthetic with GBV, Honey Radar seem more indebted to 60′s pop and the 80′s New Zealand sound, but definitely worth seeking out for fans of lo-fi jangle.
http://honeyradar.com/
..to be continued?
The next 2 additions to the HFTTD catalog are up and ready for procurement!
Indulge yourselves in the latest effort from the Graham Repulski camp - the 12 lo-fi, skewed pop events that make up Portable Grindhouse. This isn't the first release this year from the prolific band and it won't be the last. (stream / buy)
The Flying Sorcerers are a 4-headed combo from New Zealand influenced by "60's pop, 70's punk and Flying Nun". Um, yeah. If that doesn't have you clicky clicking there's no hope for ya! 8 blasts of manic pop clocking in at 10 minutes makes up the band's debut effort and there's more where this came from - another EP is on the way! (stream / buy)
Don't forget about the 4for20 deal - you can use the deal and bank releases if you'd like!
New - Graham Repulski - Land of Onions
There's a fine line between being influenced and being derivative, and often where that line falls is as subjective as music itself. When I tell you I'm listening to a lo-fi indie pop band that writes songs that tend to fall under two minutes and release records at a dizzyingly prolific rate, you're going to guess Guided By Voices. Actually, I don't know how good you are at this game so you might guess Fugees or something ridiculous. But GBV SHOULD be your guess.
You'd still be wrong. It's a testament to GBV's timelessness that Graham Repulski can share such common descriptors with them and still be their own band. In fact, the New Jersey four-piece is even lo-er fi and have an even more blinding release rate than their predecessors. (their Facebook bio lists their discography as being 13 strong from 2010 - 2014.) (Yeah, they have four releases planned beyond Cop Art (this one) by the end of next year.)
I haven't gotten a chance to sample all eight releases previous to this one, but a dabbling leads to the conclusion that this tireless rate of writing and recording has allowed the band's skills to hyper-evolve. Which is not to say their previous work wasn't worth the time, but listening to those and coming back to Cop Art, it is obvious the writing has become tighter and far more comfortable within the realm of their scratchy, distorted studio sound.
The result is a record that sounds timeless out of the gate. While lo-fi recording can sometimes sound like a extraneous gimmick, the fuzzy blanket that wraps Graham Repulski would be just as comfortable on a Pollard or Barlow record. As always, the album is Spotified below, take four and a half minutes to listen to the first three songs, I think you'll be pleased. - MO
0 To 25 In X / Chapter .041 {MIXTAPE}
Well, I've finally settled into the new digs out in the burbs and for as much as I will miss being so close to the music activities in Philly it feels great to not hear sirens every 15 minutes all night or see trash all over my street. In other exciting news I announced pre-orders for the next Big School Records project, Graham Repulski's Cop Art. I've included one of the more successful smash hits from it in this edition's mixtape. Don't forget you can stream the mix on 8tracks by clicking on the visually pleasing artwork down yonder.
1. This Frontier Needs Heroes - 2012 2. Cold Fronts - Ready To Go 3. Graham Repulski - Rip Van Winkle 4. Spider Bags - Papa Was A Shithead 5. Husking Bee - Face The Sunflower 6. Miho Hatori - Barracuda 7. Rich Aucoin - It 8. Letting Up Despite Great Faults - Visions 9. Everyone Everywhere - Turn & Go & Turn 10. The Life and Times - Day Eleven 11. Black Moth Super Rainbow - Windshield Smasher 12. Jonathan Boulet - You're A Animal 13. Built To Spill - Aisle 13 14. Powerblessings - Wet Ones 15. Campfires - Red Five and Dime 16. Cisneros & Garza Group - I'm A Man 17. The Left Banke - And Suddenly 18. Mr. Gnome - Bit Of Tongue 19. The Sound - Missiles 20. Tom Waits - Step Right Up 21. Kishi Bashi - Bright Whites 22. The Spinto Band - Ada Lee 23. Sigur Ros - Varua 24. The XX - Angels 25. Arborea - Song For Obol
Load it into your portable vessel of choice: https://www.dropbox.com/s/711onzsbt8nvrlw/0%20To%2025%20In%20X%20-%20Chapter%20.041.zip?dl=0
Previous chapters: 40, 39, 38, 37,36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Pre-orders are live for the new Graham Repulski Cop Art LP out on Big School Records (my label, duh). The band wastes not with 13 tracks clocking in at around 21 minutes.
Also - one lucky pre-order will receive a test pressing with custom screen-printed artwork (different from the LP jacket) so whut r yewww waitin' 4?
Git it. / Stream it.
By the way, I announced a new release yesterday on Big School Recs - Graham Repulski - Cop Art. You won't be able to pre-order the vinyl until next month but there's nothing stopping you from streaming the album on Bandcamp.
