šŸ”„ Hot Freaks: the Guided By Voices Listening Club (Final results time! 40 album ranking list! Freedom! - post 2160)

Music
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501

time for POLLS and FINAL CHAT (allowing 4 track choices due to album length and, yknow, Bee Thousand)

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0 voters
  • Hardcore UFOā€™s
  • Buzzards And Dreadful Crows
  • Tractor Rape Chain
  • The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory
  • Hot Freaks
  • Smothered In Hugs
  • Yours To Keep
  • Echos Myron
  • Gold Star For Robot Boy
  • Awful Bliss
  • Mincer Ray
  • A Big Fan Of The Pigpen
  • Queen Of Cans And Jars
  • Her Psychology Today
  • Kicker Of Elves
  • Esterā€™s Day
  • Demons Are Real
  • I Am A Scientist
  • Peep-Hole
  • Youā€™re Not An Airplane
0 voters
502

Seem to remember demons are real is not a fan favourite, so Iā€™ve voted for that. GBV doesnā€™t work without weird pointless songs imo, canā€™t just have ā€˜hitsā€™. Thatā€™s my justification for an extremely low stakes pseudo-contrarian vote

3 Likes
503

so yeah, 10 all day. Just another wild leap forward from Propeller/VoT - like they decided to keep everything that worked from those but to just not include a single bad song. Genius!

itā€™s just wall to wall brilliance. Mincer Ray is Tobinā€™s best track bittersweet as always, Tractor Rape Chain and Smothered in Hugs are duelling it out for greatest rock chorus ever, heartbreak gems (Yours to Keep, Awful Bliss), effusive pop earworms (Gold Star, Queen of Cans and Jars), and if I thought lyric tattoos were a good idea Iā€™d basically have all of I Am A Scientist scrawled on my arms.

All cloaked in the warmest fuzziest glow, but you can still hear every instrument. Sometimes it sounds like a lone drunken weirdo in a basement, but when they want it to sound like a rock band it actually does! Albeit one heard through the wall of the building next door, but still

Perfect odd track segues and interludes that just canā€™t help but hook you in, wonder whatā€™s going on in this weird singular pop universe. Still donā€™t understand how the almost-comedy of Jimmy Was a Fly can move so smoothly into the beauty of Esterā€™s Day ā€¦ Not a single production change Iā€™d make here, it sounds like it should and thatā€™s all there is

1 Like
504

For underrated track I think Iā€™d pull out Big Fan of the Pigpen (always forget it goes into that outro), Queen of Cans and Jars (jangle for days), and especially Peep-Hole. Stuck at the end, right after the anthem of Scientist, itā€™s one of the sweetest thing Bob ever wrote. Not sure thereā€™s many more beautifully simple declarations of love on record than this

Promise me not to leave, Iā€™m looking inside your brain
Christ itā€™s a cluttered mess
I love you I must confess

used to be down on a few of the weirder tracks when I first got into the album, including Hot Freaks (gasp!), Demons Are Real and Her Psychology Today. Totally changed my mind on the first two - HF is hook-filled, and I wish Demons was longer tbh, so odd and psych-y. Psychology still the weakest track on here, the energy and drums carries it through but one of those Bob tracks that sort of wandering around looking for a melody it never quite finds

1 Like
505

i like how the vocals are incredibly low in the mix but you can just about hear the melody poking through the instruments. somehow makes it more sweet and infectious.

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506

yeah itā€™s just on the right side of that line for my tastes compared to something like Expecting Brainchild on VoT

507

man i love the slapback delay on Bobā€™s vocals on Scientist, sounds so damn vintage

508

Full band studio version of I Am A Scientist from the EP:

509

just doing my EP listens now

510

A couple of big live favourites from the other 1994 EPs

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511

yeah a best-of-94 EP would be pretty stunning

512

Couple of interesting alternate versions of tracks on the Fast Japanese Spin Cycle EP:

Full band!

Stripped back!

Early Over the Neptune!

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513

Like this!

Although Iā€™m sure that has plenty of the not-so-good tracks on it as well. Havenā€™t listened to it as much as I intended.

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514

Yeah thatā€™s just a most-of lol

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515

Amen!

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516

EP CHAT

Get Out of My Stations
The most interesting of the EPs, as it doesnā€™t sound anything like the albums they were putting out. TBH this particular GBV sound (clean, clear, wistful) never made it onto a full album in my mind, seems to always be stuck on EPs or Suitcases instead

Scalding Creek has some really gorgeous harmonies, and that chord progression on ā€œhow are you todayā€ is picture perfect, while Mobile is a fun bluesy-bop Iā€™d have liked to hear beefed-up. Dusty Bushworms is up there with the most-underrated GBV tracks for me, just a beautiful lullaby ā€“ ā€œthis song will hold you in its armsā€ :heart:

Spring Tiger and Blue Moon Fruit another two equally pretty gems - one sparkling, one hollered from the bottom of a well. The harmonised-Bobs at the end of Spring is just one of the best sounds

Fast Japanese Spin Cycle
My Impression now is another classic smash hit stuck on a random EP. As hooky as anything he did in this time, excellent bass and drums combo. Volcano Divers is great! Unsettlingly pretty, cool effect from the reverb tank or whatever it is, then that completely unexpected but effective burst of guitar

Full band version of Marchers in Orange isnā€™t a patch on the original, but still fun, and I do like how many GBV tracks exist in multiple versions. In contrast, really like this take on Dusted, just foregrounds the lyrics and melody. And always like his trick of having a burst of noisy guitar over a pretty mellow track (see Volcano Divers)

Clown Prince of the Menthol Trailer
Yep, starting off with another banger in Matter Eater Lad ā€“ gotta have one pop gem per EP! Love the chorus vocal harmonies, very Quality of Armor. Pink Gun is fun but like, barely half an idea, turn that into a full track already. Why is Grandfather 2 and a half mins long lol

Ah Johnny Appleseed finally makes this EP worth it! The perfect balance of gorgeous melody with sloppy production, that feedback is weirdly haunting

I Am A Scientist
Another fun full band version, but again loses some of the ramshackle charm compared to the album version. The album/EP differences with Alien Lanes tracks are much more positive imho (or at least both versions are equally appealing)

Not sure Iā€™d ever heard Do the Earth before, something about the melody puts this more in the Mag Earwhig/Do the Collapse era for me. Good stuff, this would be a hit live

3 Likes
517

should bring it back

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518

Mitch in full smoke-covered glory

519

right, now weā€™ve stopped waffling on about EPs

ALIEN LANES

4 Likes
520

THE CLUB IS OPEN

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