ooh hope you stick around then
thereās so much that it does blend together and I do wish for a little more quality control (lol) but thereās a strong handful of good albums in there
1 Like
sadly minimal chat for such a good album! cmon people we canāt run out of steam yet, weāre only about halfway through ā¦
will poll it up for HALF SMILES then come back with my write up
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
0
voters
- Everybody Thinks Iām A Raincloud (When Iām Not Looking)
- Sleep Over Jack
- Girls Of Wild Strawberries
- Gonna Never Have To Die
- Window Of My World
- The Closets Of Henry
- Tour Guide At The Winston Churchill Memorial
- Asia Minor
- Sons Of Apollo
- Sing For Your Meat
- Asphyxiated Circle
- A Second Spurt Of Growth
- (S)Mothering And Coaching
- Huffman Prairie Flying Field
0
voters
Been trying to work out why Iāve been struggling to absorb or even entirely differentiate the post bee thousand albums (other than the songs I already know from box sets), and Iām settling on blaming adblock suddenly failing on youtube (and my not trying hard enough to solve that/paying for some kind of subscription service without adverts/actually buying the albums). Havenāt given up listening though!
2 Likes
so yeah, my feelings on this are pretty close to that of @myyada 's post above
I got into GBV via the greatest hits album when i was starting uni, but in a period when they were still definitively āoverā as a band. So after getting into the classics I quite quickly got to Half Smiles since it was a nice neat āfinalā album for the band. As a result I gave it a lot more time than I think most newer fans probably do, as it was the most recent thing the band had done at that time. And Iāve basically always had it as the standout best album outside of the classic trio - and this relisten has only confirmed that again.
Raincloud and Huffman are just incredible perfect bookends for the album. Raincloud is this huge chiming rocking monster, Dougās guitars sound incredible, while Huffman especially is impossible to better as a final track for a long-running band. To me itās like Jordan hitting the winner over the Jazz for his 6th title (sportsball!) - no one begrudges them coming back for another run, but goddamn was that the perfect storybook ending. Itās a sweet fuzzy build-up, it has the Dayton connection that matters so much to them, and the drum roll into the huge vocal outro gives me shivers every time. One of the few tracks to fully deserve the long fade out too, just chefs kiss in every way. Teared up a bit just now listening to it hah!
but then between those, wooft! Sleep Over Jack is one of their best quirky tracks in a while (love that sliding bass), Girls of Wild Strawberries could be their all-time prettiest song, Window of My World is unlike nearly anything else theyāve done, stagey and grand
I forget about Closets of Henry every time somehow, but itās one of their very best balls-out rockers, had me fisting pumping like a loon walking down the street. Love that rising guitar lick in the chorus of Tour Guide and the pillowy synths in the background, Asia Minor is a more minor track (lol) but a killer chorus, Sons of Apollo is just a righteous stomper, good extension of what they were doing on Earthquake Glue.
That final third sticks in my mind less than the rest but itās just as good. Sing for Your Meat is (another) one of their most underrated tracks, probably about as political and sincere as Bob ever got about anything apart from his kids (āBut 18 is the legal age to dieā), Asphyxiated Circle is another one of their proggy-pop bangers I love, think they just nail everything about the sound and energy of these tracks in this era. Smothering and Coaching is odd for sure, but again feels like building on UT&C and EG sounds with the different sounds and textures - love when those pretty acoustics come in after 90 seconds
generally think this does the great acoustic/electric balancing act that UT&C does as well, a full rock band thrashing away blended in neatly with sweet strings or chiming acoustic riffs. Just a world away from the hiss of the 90s stuff, so I think thatās why I like it so much - shows their mastery of sounds at the opposite end of what theyāre best known for. The range!
Itās probably really more of a 9 than the genius 10s of that 90s period, but fuck it feeling generous and it makes me smile loads so why not 
5 Likes
taking over @XenoPariah 's role temporarily, here are the write-ups from the blogs for the last two albums, which might help with some peopleās appreciation of the era (nudge nudge)
Earthquake Glue - An Earful Oā Wax and The Constant Bleeder
Half Smiles - An Earful Oā Wax and The Constant Bleeder
and a P4K article on their break-up to put us into the right timeframe - they really could put words together in good ways sometimes
2 Likes
in summary
Iāve come to start up my head
Been closed and locked up
FOR FAAAAAR TOOOOO LONGGGGGG
Would be cool to see how the average ratings rank for this first run of albums. Have you got this noted somewhere @JaguarPirate or do we need to go back through the thread?
will put it in a table once we have a decent number of votes in for Half Smiles
want it chronologically or highest to lowest?
was sure i read somewhere that Tobin added licks to a couple of these tracks (feels like I can hear it at the end of Wild Strawberries and Huffman) and I want it to be true, but canāt find the evidence anymore
Highest to lowest!
1 Like
bad luck Sandbox
Didnāt get a chance to revisit last week so withholding my rating until I have
1 Like
was tempted to do another break here for a clean pre/post reunion vibe - but feel thats silly so close to the christmas break (and we have to go to July as it is anyway lol)
Oh yeah forgot to post the lineup for this one. From gbvdb.com:
Bass Guitar - Chris Slusarenko
Drums And Percussion - Kevin March
Guitar - Doug Gillard
Guitar - Nate Farley
Noises And Atmospheres - Todd Tobias
Vocals - Robert Pollard
Mostly the same as Earthquake Glue except Circus Devilsā Tim Tobias has been replaced by future Boston Spaceships / The Takeovers member Chris Slusarenko on bass (after his brief piano cameo on Universal Truths & Cycles)
Have definitely read that Tobin guests on the album but itās not showing on either wikipedia or gbvdb now, will check the CD liner notes later.
1 Like
the Earful blog says Tobin was on two tracks too, so sure we must be right. The guitar sound is just too damn familiar
No tennis chat in here please, Jaggy P
3 Likes
and Jim!
Iām never sure what they mean by āamp dropā
That Pitchfork article was excellent, thanks for sharing.
Especially for this pearler: 
2 Likes
Oh, itās right at the end of Sons of Apollo where the last chord hits and thereās a distinctive crash sound (which is what happens when you knock over or drop an amp). You can hear a similar thing at the beginning of Cecilia Ann by the Pixies.
2 Likes