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giving people some extra time to mull over their picks for ZEPPELIN OVER CHINA
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voters
- Good Morning Sir
- Step Of The Wave
- Carapace
- Send In The Suicide Squad
- Blurring The Contacts
- Your Lights Are Out
- Windshield Wiper Rex
- Holy Rhythm
- Jack Tell
- Bellicose Starling
- Wrong Turn On
- Charmless Peters
- The Rally Boys
- Think. Be A Man
- Jam Warsong
- You Own The Night
- Everythingās Thrilling
- Nice About You
- Einsteinās Angel
- The Hearing Department
- Questions Of The Test
- No Point
- Lurk Of The Worm
- Zeppelin Over China
- Where Have You Been All My Life
- Cold Cold Hands
- Transpiring Anathema
- We Can Make Music
- Cobbler Ditches
- Enough Is Never At The End
- My Future In Barcelona
- Vertiginous Raft
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voters
As I said before, this one just never clicked for me at all. Thereās just waaay too much to take in.
The only release from the current lineup I actively dislike 
- Bee Thousand
- Under The Bushes Under The Stars
- Propeller
- Alien Lanes
- Isolation Drills
- The Bears for Lunch
- Class Clown Spots a UFO
- Space Gun
- How Do You Spell Heaven?
- Universal Truths & Cycles
- Do The Collapse
- Vampire on Titus
- Mag Earwhig!
- August By Cake
- Please Be Honest
- Motivational Jumpsuit
- Half Smiles of the Decomposed
- Earthquake Glue
- Self Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia
- Cool Planet
- Same Place the Fly Got Smashed
- Devil Between My Toes
- Zeppelin Over China
- English Little League
- Letās Go Eat The Factory
- Forever Since Breakfast
- Sandbox
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time for a much bouncier entry - 24 songs in just 37 mins on WARP AND WOOF
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Iāve been doing well up to now at listening to each album during its week good or bad, but Iāve failed to listen to ZOC yet. I think my disappointment with the last double album has soured the anticipation for this one. I will try and give it a play today, donāt want to get behind when weāre almost in the last quarter!
4 Likes
I remember Warp & Woof being very well received and thereās some good stuff on there but I remember it never quite clicking for me the way it seemed to for other people. The talk of it being recorded on the road and in the back of vans suggested something a bit more 90s GBV sounding but in the end I donāt think it sounded all that different to any of the other recent stuff. Donāt think Iāve listened since 2019 so will be interesting to revisit (still behind on Zeppelin though)
on a first listen, i thought it sounded quite different from ZOC (in energy and style), especially for something coming just 2 months after a double album
or at least different within the realm of late-period-GBV
not quite the pop hooks of Space Gun, not the rock thump of other projects around the time, got some decent light and shade going on
funnily enough Dead Liquor Store is one of the standouts for me but it reminds me a lot of Daily Get Ups
Best part about this period was obviously their brief return to Europe and especially two shows in London
(Night 2 for me)
7 Likes
Been looking forward to this week, not heard Warp & Woof for a while but I remember it being loads of fun. Huge contrast with the previous album.
Glorious
Can see myself in this
4 Likes
I always forget that this album is essentially a collection bringing together four separate EPs released between late 2018 and early 2019. Which would explain why Warp & Woof is listed under Compilations on the GBV RateYourMusic page.
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As with some of the mid-90s release, Warp & Woof definitely benefits from multiple listens so the hooks have time to reveal themselves. Otherwise this would probably feel a bit of a headrush, i.e. 24 songs flying past inside 37 minutes, with only two over the 2:00 mark 
Iāve often assumed they did the EP thing just as an excuse to release more music in 2018 without breaking their one album pledge.
But feel like I remember an interview where they said the idea was to record a couple of EPs while on the road in the same spirit as the ramshackle 90s EPs but ended up having enough material for a full album
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The funny thing is, as you pointed out earlier, this album doesnāt really sound all that different from their other stuff. Although itās a bit slapdash in places, there isnāt much here where youād think āah this mustāve been recorded on the tour busā or whatever.
Not a criticism of the album really, just an observation. There are even a few songs here which sound quite polished IMO.
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I remember reading on the FB page that the title to āMy Dog Surpriseā was another instance of Bob randomly mishearing something, Jill Hives-style.
In this case it was apparently him hearing Creamās āSunshine of Your Loveā on the radio as a kid, and misunderstanding the āIāll give you my dawn surpriseā lyric 
I empathize. Easter has really got in the way for me! Gonna try and catch up tonight!
Zeppelin Over China!
One of the more daunting GBV records to stick on if youāre not really in the mood for it. It was never my fave from the era, but I did always think it had some quality tunes buried in amongst the numerous bang average ones. Anyway, going inā¦
Good Morning Sir is an OK opener. The first run of tunes is all a bit āOKā in that plodding mid-fi way with pretty phoned in vox/lyrics until Send In The Suicide Squad appears with some lovely jangle and better quality in general from Bob.
The mid-tempo chug returns again with Blurring The Contacts. Again, itās OK. More b-side fodder, really. Your Lights Are Out is great. Some good riffs and vocals from Bob, but itās the first time on the rec Doug has really shined so far. Itās a bit disjointed to be a real classic, but I dig it.
Windshield Wiper Rex is a better example of the ZOC deep cuts. A mini epic. Holy Rhythm works too. A few cuts like these are fine but thereās clearly already too many similar tunes here. Jack Tell is very pleasant. Weāve got more variety on the record now. I could imagine this on Earthquake Glue.
Another lackluster runā¦ Bellicose Starling is, again, pleasant. Wrong Turn On thankfully brings a bit of energy but the hook etc. all falls flat. Itās very MOR. Charmless Peters is pretty turgid. Rally Boys, though, breaks the deadlockā¦ fantastic brief pop tune. Really well crafted and great lyrics with lovely synthstrings backing.
Think. Be A Man is back to the aimless turgid stuff. Thankfully we hit some quality again with Jam Warsong where the 70s style rock works well. It sounds like a homage to something but it works. Good guitar in the outro. You Own The Night is very good too. Again, the vox/lyrics are much more crafted. The disjointed middle section nearly ruins it but itās pretty listenable and the payoff is good with the strings etc.
This record is almost like a tale of two LPs. There is clearly quality here but thereās daylight between that stuff and the filler. Everythingās Thrilling is, again, OK. B-sidey. Nice About You is quite grungy. But nothingy. Einsteins Angel doesnāt do much for me. The Hearing Department is kind of interesting. Itās quite soft rock and has quite a nice atmosphere but again falls a bit short. Questions of the Test is like a bland Circus Devils tune.
No Point is OK. Lurk of the Worm is more fun and brings some genuine energy and quirkiness to the record. The next bright moment is Where Have You Been All My Life ā itās a decent quick rock song. Cold Cold Hands is, again, not bad. Just a bit āby numbersā. Transpiring Anathema plods along. We Can Make Music is, like, a nice idea with great instrumentation but Bobās approach with the vox doesnāt land ā I think due to the take and the production on them. Cobbler Ditches is another plodder. Enough Is Never At The End is quite nice. Like something from a musical. It should be the album closer! My Future In Barcelona is a decent enough single. Although it does lack energy as much of the album does, sadly. Vertiginous Raft, again, does that musical thing ā where were these quirky tunes 30 tracks ago!? Nice vocal from Bob on this one though to be fair.
Ooof, what a slog this album is. Thereās not really much on it I actively dislike. Itās more that the average ploddy stuff really slows down the whole thing and gets in the way of the genuine moments of quality. Reckon if you took the best 16 cuts from this youād have an album thatās at least as good as Space Gun.
2 Likes
Interesting that Bob references Motor Away in Cobbler Ditches and then Same Place the Fly Got Smashed in Bury the Mouse
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