scores on the doors for Isolation Drills
also this is now the official listening club CHRISTMAS BREAK. Donāt think people have much brain power for organised music fun over the next few weeks (and a bunch of us are in ML still anyway)
so weāll be back officially with UNIVERSAL TRUTHS AND CYCLES on January 8
in the meantime though, Iāll be chucking up a few supplementary listens for the obsessives, outside of the core studio albums. And anyone else whoās fallen behind feel free to catch up in a chill fashion! Iām really liking seeing the round up posts even if its for albums from a few weeks back now
so your bonus Christmas listening is as follows, all from the lo-fi golden age:
some properly great stuff over these records, including what is sometimes my fav GBV song ever
Sunfish Holy Breakfast is really great
Also a shorter EP from 96
Vote for ID already!
Iām only listening now!
Glad Girls chorus is a bit boring but the verses are quite good
Chasing Heather Crazy is better than I remembered
oh Run Wild is really good
Pretty solid album, though with fewer heights than the classics
Really disagree, something about it grates me. Canāt put my finger on it.
This has been popping up in my youtube recommendations lately, been meaning to get a proper watch
Seems to be a celebration of Greg Demosā last show (Do the Collapse era) with some porch jamming followed by some live footage
Canāt remember if anyoneās posted this
Some great mid 90s footage here (apparently from the DVD extras)
They really need a more comprehensive full-length documentary made now donāt they.
I canāt remember where I first read it, but I love the story about how somebody was initially reluctant to check out GBV because they didnāt like how the band looked on the cover of this EP 
I wonder which one they thought was Bob?
Man, Sunfish Holy Breakfast was waaaay patchier than I remembered it 
Itās already been mentioned that many of the 90s era GBV EPās tended to be home to a solitary stone cold classic surrounded by lots of so-so material, and this EP very much continues that trend. In this instance āIf We Waitā is that standout track, another irresistible long-lost Beatles demo with Bob yet again doing his Lennon thing.
Not much else really stood out for me tbh. āStabbing a Starā is a fun song which, even by 90s GBV standards, is unfortunately drowned under excessive amounts of lo-fi fuzz. āA Contest feat. Human Beingsā is a decent one-minute-&-done pop nugget, whilst the Jim Greer number (āTrendspotter Acrobatā) is an interesting curio I suppose.
I will try and get to Tonics & Twisted Chasers over the next few days.
but Beekeeper Seeks Ruth! Love that one
Nah, Jabberstroker and Heavy Metal Country are both superb as well. Their best EP by a long long margin.
King Shit would be in my top 5, so many great songs and irritating bits of nonsense on there; even better when they arenāt adulterating Bee Thousand
Catching up as much as I can this week. Have given up on Mag Earwhig for the time being as Iām not too keen on the production style and I could lose the next month to trying to crack it.
Do The Collapse is ace though. I donāt know if this marks me out as a crap GBV fan, but I love hearing them with the big sharp production, especially when the album has the songs to back it up. Tbh, I always love it when idiosyncratic artists have a āpopā period because itās still pop filtered through their lens and I find it fascinating how they take things to a more accessible or melodic, but still interesting place. I think the same for the likes of Butthole Surfers, The Fall, Sonic Youth, Captain Beefheart etc.
Will be giving DtC another spin before moving on, but I think Iāve only got Isolation Drills to go now and Iām up to date (on the main LPs that is)?