REVIEW: Guided by Voices @ Paradise Rock Club 5/17
By Jack Beck
It’s weird to think that Robert Pollard and the rest of Guided By Voices are actual people. I don’t mean that in a mean way at all, it’s just that when I listen to their music I really can’t imagine it coming from a bunch people just playing instruments in their garage or their studio or anything like that. To me it sounds a lot more like something fantastical but still super goofy, like that old gnome dude from those Travolocity commercials, like what he would make if he spent all of his time listening to Big Star instead of getting us really good deals on hotels.
Then, after seeing Guided By Voices live at Paradise this past weekend, one of the first things I saw was that they’re not magical hospitality fantasy gnomes at all, but actually just some middle aged guys who make music. It’s grounding, definitely, but the catch is that Guided By Voices are as good at their special brand of catchy indie rock as that gnome is at finding you the best hotel deals*. If you’re not familiar with the band, they’re the brainchild of frontman Robert Pollard and they’ve been putting out a pretty steady stream of music since the mid-nineties, all of which consists of some sound on the indie rock spectrum ranging from full-on professional studio recordings to hazy so-lo-fi-it’s-hardly-music garage rock. And, because they’re Guided By Voices, it’s all at least really good, sometimes even amazing. Robert Polland just doesn’t write bad songs. Look at it like this: this show was 59 songs long (59!!!). They pretty much just put their catalog on shuffle for two hours, and it was totally cool. Like they’re just so good at these short little candy pop gems, it’s fantastic.
Not to get off topic, but I work in a hotel and one time all the guys from a different but equally celebrated ‘90s punk band known for super angsty and aggressive lyrics were staying with us (sorry I can’t say their name, that’s illegal but I promise if you’re reading a review of a Guided By Voices concert you’ve almost definitely heard of them and very likely adore them). Their music makes you think they’d be all angry and confrontational, like super intense dudes. I met their drummer the night before their show and he was not a super intense dude. He just couldn’t figure out the Keurig in his room. Later his daughters were there and they kept calling him lame cause the band was on a reunion tour and they thought he was super old. It was adorable.
What does this have to do with Guided By Voices? I guess what I’m trying to say is that seeing their drummer just being a totally normal dad didn’t make the angsty, emotional punk of this band any less real, it actually did the opposite. Instead, it grounded their music, gave it an actual name and face that I could attach to it; it became more earnest. It’s kinda the same when you see Guided By Voices live. Yeah, their music loses that mystical, fantasy elf vibe, but in its place you realize what’s in front of you is one the greatest pop artists touring today. Robert Pollard, the rest of this band, all our favorite rockstars: they’re not untouchable fantasy sky gods, they’re people. Robert Pollard is a person, he does laundry, he eats soup. He writes songs. He plays them. He’s normal, but he’s brilliant. He normal, but he’s written 2000 plus really, really good songs. And, honestly, that’s probably cooler than if he was just a magical gnome.
*I promise Travelocity is not paying me I just enjoy metaphors.