God that transition in to Mesh Gear Fox. Anthemic stuff makes me want to run up a mountain.
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Yeah RGC is a total fav of mine, if it was just a little longer it would have snuck in - but this is an album of relatively full length tracks, so it feels a tiny bit slight compared to others
Interesting that Propeller was mostly recorded in a proper studio (albeit ālovingly fucked withā by someone called Mike āRepā Hummel afterwards) but then they just started throwing on extra tracks clearly made on shitty cassettes, including some of the best songs (Exit Flagger, 14 Cheerleader Coldfront) but they fit together surprisingly well.
Indeed it was, and it was covered in great detail over at the Shitcanned fan blog. It sounds like the album was very much abandoned at the last possible moment, even to the extent that the artwork had been completed. Sounds like Bob suddenly lost faith in the record.
An alternate version of the album was also covered in a separate article.
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Hadnāt realised most of the Get Out of My Stations tracks were meant to be on there
Same Place the Fly Got Smashed didnāt do a great deal for me - felt like a step back from Self-Inflicted. But my high points (Drinkerās Peace, Pendulum, Local Mix-up/Murder Charge) are really strong. Something about the stuff in-between those tracks didnāt connect, even though it wasnāt bad.
ā¦But listening to it back to back with Propeller may have been the issue. Propeller gets better and better on repeat listens. It sounds like everything coming together. Still lo-fi but with just a bit more polish. Stuff like the transition from Over the Neptune into Mesh Gear Fox works soo well. First GBV album where Iām not sure which tracks are my favourite - loads of different ideas going on and all really consistent in quality. Hubba hubba!
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Canāt quite believe I declined to vote for Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox, but I figured itās bound to win anyway so I may as well lend my votes elsewhereā¦if that makes any sense? 
LONG LIVE ROCKATHON
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- In my opinion, they should release at least one or both versions of back to saturn x properly, and it would be one of their best albums
- I was thinking about saying they should just put it all into propeller instead of the radio report, but thereās something that works about the tracklisting of propeller as it is now that would be lost (as it is on the directorās cut of bee thousand, which is dramatically worseā¦but that is for later)
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Over The Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox - a 6 minute song? Who do you think you are, Bob, Geddy fucking Lee? Anyway this is really good, first sign of the Blimps Go 90 violin too. āFlick the switch/itās rock and roll timeā is the kind of lyric only GBV could write whilst retaining indie credibility.
Weedking - More violin and even more prog vibes. Starts quite downbeat but the chorus(?) really soars.
Particular Damaged - Yikes, the production on those vocals. Not much to recommend this one.
Quality of Armor - oh yes. Possibly the first perfect song they ever did.
Metal Mothers - quite good I guess, feels a bit safe.
Lethargy - love this, weird half-formed no wave jam.
Unleashed! Large-Hearted Boy - I first heard this one when they played London, once youāve heard that bass line you wonāt forget it. Was a bit disappointed that the recorded version was quite this raw but it still absolutely rips.
Red Gas Circle - really like the last 30 seconds or so of this one, but not one their better (mostly) acoustic ballads.
Exit Flagger - probably the second perfect song they wrote.
14 Cheerleader Coldfront - a wonderful song about absolutely nothing, a GBV specialty.
Back to Saturn X Radio Report - despite having loads of really short songs there are very few GBV tracks Iād classify as skits, but this one of them and itās fucking shit.
Ergo Space Pig - loads and loads of wah, probably too much. Striking giving how rarely they tend to use effects otherwise.
Circus World - the smashed fly callback is apt because this feels like one of the tracks on that album that never really goes anywhere. Quite like the solo though.
Some Drilling Implied - much better although obvious production cavear.
On the Tundra - strong closer, great chorus.
Some high highs and some truly terrible lows but easily the best so far. Itās all over the place and sounds like crap in places but if I wanted consistency or good production then I wouldnāt be here would I.
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Looks like Propeller is going to end up with a very strong rating!
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Propeller!
Unsure if it needs to be said, but I love it. In terms of favourites, it ranks about the same as Same Place, but Iād be more inclined to call this an essential GBV release over anything theyād put out to that point.
It was one of the albums after Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes that really hooked me into the GBV thing. Over The Neptune is such a bold and now classic album opener and the violin really gives the album a more mature sonic palette or something. Itās definitely got lofi elements but that never really detracts from the songs for me. Think Iāve said before that I really mentally place it with the Breeders for vibes. It just balances beauty and fun in a cool rattley indie way.
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So after giving Propeller a few bonus hours of chat (and getting home from my trip zzz), itās time to go back into the murk with Vampire on Titus!
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Think thisāll be an interesting one for chat, as itās clearly in the classic run of albums for established fans - but if you havenāt explored so much I can imagine itāll be quite a ride compared to Propeller and Bee Thousand bookending it
Very minimal lineup this time!
- Robert Pollard ā vocals, guitar, drums
- Jim Pollard ā guitar, amp noise
- Tobin Sprout ā vocals, guitar, bass
I think the reason being that the band had basically broken up, but theyād finally caught the attention of a label (Scat Records) who wanted to reissue Propeller, and then asked if they had anything new they could put out.
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Itās a bit like Room to Live by The Fall in a way - in the middle of a classic run of albums but itās a weird and murky outlier compared to the more fully rounded albums surrounding it.
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Hadnāt realised it was so stripped back! no Demos bass flair 
Gleemer is in my top 10 GBV tracks and by far my fav Tobin-penned number. Hits all my bittersweet buttons
Could this be a braaand newww low!
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I definitely skipped a lot of the weirder tracks here when first discovering them, so looking forward to hearing it in the full glory again
Expecting Brianchild is another one of those where itās a great song a bit let down by the production.
I kinda like the weirdness of the vocal effect (how do you even make vocals sound that bad??) but it really obscures the great melody
How it sounds live:
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