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A new week, a new Guided by Voices album is released. English Little League is coming out tomorrow! Why should I care? As the title of this thread says, Guided by Voices' frontman Robert Pollard is the king of Indie Rock. This is not hyperbole, from the 80s until today, there is no single band who had more impact on the Indie Rock/Lo-Fi scene as this band. Sadly, due to their very extensive discography, they are easy to ignore unless properly introduced. I mean, where to start? A common 'joke' amongst fans is that they release a new album every couple of weeks. I say joke, but that's not so far from the truth. Let's start from the beginning: The History of Guided by Voices GbV was formed around Robert Pollard in Dayton Ohio in the very early 80s. They would mostly play local shows and to family and friends, and the lineup would always vary, depending on who was ready to play shows or to come in on short notice for a recording session in studio. They had a string of releases (6 albums and 3 EPs) from 1983 to 1993. They would usually end up pressing only a few hundred copies that would be distributed to friends and family. In the early 90s, due to pressure from his family and his teaching job, he almost quit music altogether. In 1992 he decided to give it a last shot, and ended up making the album Propeller, which started to play in regular rotation at college rock stations. By 1993, the band had consolidated into what is now known as the 'classic line-up'. Robert Pollard as frontman and guitarist, flanked by Tobin Sprout and Mitch Mitchell on guitars as well, Greg Demos on the bass, and drummer Kevin Fennell. They ditched recording in studios as a waste of money and started to record everything at home with a very lo-fi sound. In 1993 they recorded and released one album and two EPs, and finally started getting national recognition. In 1994, they signed on with Matador, and the music scene would forever be changed with the release of Bee Thousand. It's quite possibly the most important Indie album of the last 30 years. In the following 10 years, they would release 10 albums, 11 EPs, 2 split EPs, a string of singles and split singles, and four massive box sets (18 cds + 1 dvd) of demos and outtakes and live songs and whatever else Robert had going on at the time. In 2004, he decided to have one last tour and to call it off. It all culminated in two final shows at the Metro in Chicago. The final show is something of a legend, with a bar on stage, four hour long with a 63 song set list and many shenanigans going on. That Pitchfork article and others about this show are definitely worth reading, even if you've never heard of the band before. Pollard then continued his own solo album. Oh yeah because he was not only releasing material with GbV during that time, he also had a solo career! Yeah, between 1996 and GBV's break-up, he released 4 albums and 4 EPs. After the break-up, he poured all of his effort on his solo career and, between 2005 and 2012, he released 14 albums and 8 EPs. Oh and of course, if you want to include his side-projects with other artists, you have to add another 29 other albums released in 13 years. As a side note, I am a huge fan and I try to buy and listen to everything that Pollard releases, and while writing this I just discovered about 4 albums I had never heard of. jesus christ. In 2011, Pollard announced that he was reuniting the 1993-1996 classic line-up for a series of reunion shows. Being Pollard, they also immediately started recording albums, and in 2012 they released 3 albums and an EP, and today release their first album of 2013 entitled English Little League. Oh yeah and while they were broken up he also released 5 compilation albums of GbV material and another 4 disc boxset because, why the gently caress not? If you have not been keeping track, that means that Pollard, since 1986, has released: - 67 LPs - 28 EPs - 12 split EPs and singles - 5 boxsets of various material for a total of 22 cds + 1 dvd All in all, Robert Pollard has written/co-written and recorded over a 1,600 songs. Yes, you read that right. If only we could replace the television with a record player:  That's a terrifying amount of material. Where to start? (you can skip to the second post for a few samples then come back here if you prefer) Not only has he written a scary amount of material, but he also has written a lot of material that is hard to approach on a first listen. Thankfully, in 2003, a compilation album called 'Human Amusement at Hourly Rates' came out. It is a perfect album, and everyone should own it. It takes some of the bests tracks (it'd need to be a 5 cd compilation to include all the best GbV tracks) and weeds out those that are not as vital. And lucky for you, it's $9.99 on iTunes for 32 songs! It's a steal, you should get it right away.  Once you are done with this one, the next obvious step is to move on to Bee Thousand, the 1994 classic that catapulted them on top of the indie scene.  After that, 1996 Under the Bushes, Under the Stars seems like a logical progression, as it was also written and recorded with the classic line-up and considered one of their best albums to date. I might personally prefer 'Alien Lanes' over this one, but somehow most people I talked to seem to prefer this one over it.  Do The Collapse was both a return to form of early GbV and a break from their 90s songs. It features a rich production, great songs that are a bit more 'radio-friendly' and although received with a bit of resistance from fans, everyone has come to realize just how great that album is  After that, I would suggest going all the way back to 1986's Forever Since Breakfast and go up from there. Personally, it's one of my all-time favorite GbV releases, and I never get tired of listening to it. In fact I went through it twice while writing this OP.  Funnily enough, Robert Pollard has mostly dismissed it as 'sterile', but I think he's just pissed that so many people said he sounded a bit like he was trying to ape R.E.M.'s Murmur by moments So, what are you waiting for? You've got a shitload of records to go through! Twee as Fuck fucked around with this message at 05:44 on Apr 29, 2013 |
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Apr 29, 2013 05:29
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Game of Pricks off Alien Lane (Actually the 7" version from an EP) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLINRoC4f1k 'I Am a Scientist' off Bee Thousand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN9x6zckn18 Glad Girls off Isolation Drill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZsi9uEOJLg Hold on Hope off Hold on Hope EP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms2x7hVqghs Back to the Lake off Universal Truths and Cycles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0fbR-7Y6Xo Surgical Focus off Do the Collapse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvxXHdicSqs For an idea of their more recent sound: 'Class Clown Spots a UFO' from the album of the same name (2012) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVF_q1ZbU-4 Twee as Fuck fucked around with this message at 05:41 on Apr 29, 2013 |
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Apr 29, 2013 05:30
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GBV is one of my favorite bands. It's the same reason why I like bands like The Replacements - the backstory behind the group adds to the whole library. Pollard is an example of an everyman in that he was an older guy and teacher who just decided to do what he loved, even at an age that might be considered "too old" for what age people generally identify "rock frontman" with. Beyond that, he just writes these incredibly great songs. It's worth mentioning that I've come to love his sloppy, 30-second trainwreck songs as they provide a clarity for the pop gems he writes. And it's not a gimmick, because he writes things like The Best Of Jill Hives https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPhk_msb8pA which rivals anything you'd hear on the radio to this day - he has a great ear for hooks and he writes about a thousand a week. One of my most favorite songs ever written is also one of his most popular, which is "Game Of Pricks". The version linked in the post is the more polished one, but my heart will always belong to the scruffy perfection of the first Alien Lanes version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlZlst4NBVw Also, Alien Lanes is required listening right after Bee Thousand and don't believe otherwise.
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Apr 29, 2013 17:47
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As I wrote in the OP, I agree with you but most people seem to think you should skip it and go for UTBUTS instead for some reason. I think this is ridiculous. I also completely agree with his 30 second songs and such being a way to clear his head for some of his more pop songs. In fact I'd go as far as saying that Robert Pollard is one of the best 'pop' artist there is out there, just based on those songs. He can write a catchy melody with great lyrics like few others. There's also his very rock aspect that is just as great, and the experimental tracks. Listening to Skin Parade off of UT&C and I really just love that track and the ending with the distortion and just screaming in the microphone. It's sad that being too prolific is what has kept Robert Pollard from being the king of music period. If you scoured his 67 albums, 28 EPs and all his best singles/rarities/outtakes and made, say, 10 perfect albums I am sure he would be one of the biggest names in music in the last 30 years. Someone like him should at least be on a Bowie level of stardom.
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Apr 29, 2013 18:03
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One of my absolute favorite bands! I got my vinyl of English Little League about two weeks ago and it's really great! Their new albums have been getting better with each release and English Little League is right up there with some of their best work. Here's some stuff off of the new album. These are two of Tobin Sprout's best songs. The Sudden Death of Epstein's Ways - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6JJ7zZtIuQ Islands (She Talks In Rainbows) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA9W3l11IOM Annoying Reveler fucked around with this message at 23:06 on Apr 29, 2013 |
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Apr 29, 2013 23:01
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I like these guys a lot. I adore Bee Thousand and pretty much whatever else I listen to, but I have to agree with the comments about being buried in songs. If he would just pare down his 2-3 albums per year into one it would be much more manageable. Nonetheless, I like everything I hear. I was able to see them at FYF Fest in 2011. Probably the highlight of the night. He smokes like a chimney!
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Apr 30, 2013 05:21
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Just got my copy, going to pop it in. I'm so excited  The Read Menace posted:He smokes like a chimney! Surely you've heard of the 'heater' incident, right?
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Apr 30, 2013 18:30
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I'm really glad this thread exists! I've been a huge fan for about 15 years and do my best to keep up on all of Robert Pollard's releases. Has anyone heard anything about a tour this year? They seemed to be only doing summer shows last year and I wouldn't mind if that's the case again this year. I've found the best way to get others into them is to just bring them to a show. Everyone who I have brought with me over the years immediately starting digging through their back catalog and fell in love with something.
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Apr 30, 2013 18:37
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I don't know if I love it or hate it that he releases every little song and song fragment that comes to his head(and if he doesn't then Jesus Christ  ) Human Amusements is definitely required listening by everyone who likes music though. I think the only albums I really listen to besides that are the ones in the OP +Alien Lanes -Forever Since Breakfast. The Read Menace posted:I like these guys a lot. I adore Bee Thousand and pretty much whatever else I listen to, but I have to agree with the comments about being buried in songs. If he would just pare down his 2-3 albums per year into one it would be much more manageable. Nonetheless, I like everything I hear. I was able to see them at FYF Fest in 2011. Probably the highlight of the night. He smokes like a chimney! I saw them at an outdoor venue in Brooklyn in 2011 and they had 2 roadies on either side of the stage who's sole purpose was to light the band members cigarettes. It was the greatest loving thing, the guys would just sidle over to the side of the stage mid song, still playing and the roadies would put a cigarette in their mouths, light it and send em back upstage.
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Apr 30, 2013 19:32
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Twee as gently caress posted:Surely you've heard of the 'heater' incident, right? I have not. Details?
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Apr 30, 2013 21:12
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The Read Menace posted:I have not. Details? The Story of How Ted Leo Learned 'You Don't gently caress with Guided by Voices' Tis was but an ordinary night in the very early 2000s when GbV was playing at some gig with a few other bands opening for them. The last opening band was Ted Leo and his Pharmacists. Back then, Ted Leo was a very very serious man, and decided he deserved longer time on stage. Robert Pollard was annoyed and, as they took the stage, sarcastically commented 'We'd like to thank the opening band for cutting into our set'. Ted Leo got really pissed at the disrespect. Instead of respecting his Indie Rock Elders as he should have, he decided he was having none of it and waited around the end of the show. As they were ending their set, Ted Leo, his brother and a few Pharmacists approached him backstage. He started to argue with Pollard, and pushed him. After all, what would a bunch of guys in their late 40s going to do to a punkish band in their 20s? The answer was: kick their asses. Pollard told him to gently caress off and Ted sucker punched him in the face. Nate Farley, who was obviously smoking at the moment, took his lit cigarette, put it inbetween his knuckles and punched Ted Leo in the face. This is what is referred to as a 'heater'. The rest of the band who was there, Pollard included, proceeded to kicked the crap out of Ted, his brother and some of the Pharmacists who joined the brawl, then left. The cops were called, and Nate Farley took his girl, ran around the corner then sat on a bench and made out with her as the cops ran by. Then they got in their van and got drunk some more on the way to their hotel. Since then Ted Leo has apologized for his behavior, covered GbV and praised Pollard in interviews quite a few times. Twee as Fuck fucked around with this message at 21:53 on Apr 30, 2013 |
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Apr 30, 2013 21:26
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First impressions of English Little League so far: Both Xeno Pariah and Know Me as Heavy are really good, but kind of melted into each others as I was listening to them. For me, the first stand out track was Islands (She Talks in Rainbows). I really dug the restraint, for a lack of a better world. Not slow, but not fast, a bit of fuzz and distortion, but not too much. Vocals were not too omnipresent. I thought it kind of feels like a 60s Rock Song numbed by valium, if that makes any sense. I thought the next three tracks are a bit forgettable, but Noble Insect is very good once you get over some of the.. laziest Pollard lyrics I think I've heard. Repeating over and over again 'Japan Japan Japan friction in Japan' and 'Some birds are blue, the grass is green' is weirdly hypnotic, but also just kind of plain weird. I'm really liking it so far. It feels very cohesive, though it seems to not necessarily have the highs of either Factory or Class Clown. Then again any Robert Pollard album has to be listened to three or four times before you even start absorbing it in its entirety. Twee as Fuck fucked around with this message at 22:33 on Apr 30, 2013 |
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Apr 30, 2013 22:25
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Guided By Voices are my favourite band. I have most of their releases on vinyl (including singles) except for their super expensive early stuff (though I do have an original Sandbox). Bee Thousand is my favourite album, with the classic period of Propeller to Under the Bushes being pure gold. Though I love it all really. I've barely poked my toe into Pollards non-GBV stuff, as there is just. so. much. of it. It is something I'm planning on eventually! I have never seen them live as they have only come to Australia once and that was in like 2000. Please come back Bob! I got English Little League in the mail last night, looking forward to playing it soon!
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May 1, 2013 00:42
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Doctor Cave posted:Guided By Voices are my favourite band. I have most of their releases on vinyl (including singles) except for their super expensive early stuff (though I do have an original Sandbox). Bee Thousand is my favourite album, with the classic period of Propeller to Under the Bushes being pure gold. Though I love it all really. I've barely poked my toe into Pollards non-GBV stuff, as there is just. so. much. of it. It is something I'm planning on eventually! I have never seen them live as they have only come to Australia once and that was in like 2000. Please come back Bob! Keeping up with Pollard is like a full time job. I listened to ELL, I have yet to give Down by the Race Track a spin, I have a backlog of like 20 solo/collaboration RP to buy/go through. Oh and even GbV, I have yet to give Suitcase 3 a spin, because that's an extra 100 songs. He's been active musically and he's been releasing on average 80 songs a year. That's the equivalent of a new 12 songs record every 2 months 
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May 1, 2013 02:54
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Tobin Sprout is indeed a wonderful addition to GBV and I really respected how much time they gave him on Let's Go Eat The Factory. That being said, one of my favorite records by them is the Chocolate Boy 7". It's not because it's on thick vinyl and chocolate-brown covered to resemble a piece of chocolate, but because it has a Sprout B-side that is one of the most simple and pretty songs I've ever heard Sprout do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHx_8A7IJRk When I got into record collecting about 7 years ago, I was already in love with GBV and just went at it. I have about 40 records by then now, mostly albums but maybe 10 7" releases. I just love them so drat much. I'm glad that Human Amusements was recommended because it was my starting-off point for REALLY getting into GBV. Between the vast sea of side projects that Twee outlined, there's a "best of" double album called Crickets that is worth tracking down if you want to hear some of the best tracks Pollard has done under different names. I think my two favorite records I have of GBV are the red-colored copy of Bee Thousand and a Wish In One Hand 7" that has a small autograph on it. I don't really any intelligent discourse to provide this thread at this point other than the fact that GBV is one of my favorite bands of all time. Sorry.
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May 1, 2013 04:10
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Chocolate Boy is a pretty great single, and yeah i think a lot of the greatest GbV songs is when they just strip away everything else and just concentrate on creating a melody. They are some of the best songsmiths around, I have no doubt. On their good days anyway. Tobin Sprout in GbV is like a marriage made in heaven too. You have so many bands who have reunited in the last 5 years or so, from the Smashing Pumpkins to New Order, the list just goes on and on. Most of them feel like they are just pale shadows at best of their former selves. The only band that has reunited and feels as strong as ever is GbV. Human Amusements is great but I think I prefer the Hardcore UFOs which has a couple of alternate tracks and, more importantly, has the tracks in chronological order. It's very interesting to see the progression of their greatest tracks. And please, don't apologize, your input is greatly appreciated! I think one of the things all of us really into GbV should be doing is to try and brace ourselves to go through all of RP's solo material and side projects, that could be fun. Also: What do you think about 'Forever Since Breakfast'? Epi doesn't seem to be a fan, I love it to bits. Yourself?
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May 1, 2013 04:22
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I generally think that Pollard's solo work is weaker than the GBV stuff, but he still has some god drat fine records. Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department is one of my favorite albums, period. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b7zMPnPRRU Annoying Reveler fucked around with this message at 13:14 on May 1, 2013 |
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May 1, 2013 13:12
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Love GBV. Saw them live on their reunion tour a few years back (the Box Elders opened for them, I think). 'Twas an amazing night. Speaking of live GBV, I should add Jellyfish Reflector to the recommended recordings list. Great set of songs, and some savage guitar riffage (a drunk Bob Pollard is a fun Bob Pollard). That album is a good way to re-enliven songs that you're already very familiar with. I've always wanted to hear that Cum Engines live LP, but I've always lost out when bidding on eBay. Maybe I'll try again; it has been a while.
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May 1, 2013 13:52
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GBV are one of my favorite bands, full stop. I love the power pop classics Pollard seems to knock out at an incredible rate but even his little 30 second experiments can be interesting enough, sometimes I wish they were full songs. The GBV Fan Club album, Tonics And Twisted Chasers, is full of them. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the classic era lineup, most of the songs were co-written by Pollard and Tobin Sprout and it's all very lo-fi. Here's a sampler, 158 Years of Beautiful Sex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbeled7vITw
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May 2, 2013 13:39
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Twee as gently caress posted:The Story of How Ted Leo Learned 'You Don't gently caress with Guided by Voices' All respect for all parties involved lost. What an embarrassing story.
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May 2, 2013 19:50
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juniperjones posted:All respect for all parties involved lost. What an embarrassing story. I own all of Ted Leo's records as well, and seen him live a couple of times, so this is not coming from a fanboy's heart: GbV* did nothing wrong in the confrontation. - Everyone at the show were there to see GbV, Ted Leo was a nobody at that point while GbV had been playing for almost 20 years at that time, and were superstars in the Indie scene - Ted Leo and his band played a good 20+ minutes than they were supposed to - Guided by Voices had to stop playing by a certain time, and they felt that since they had to cut their set by almost a fourth, their fans had been robbed since they'd paid to see them - All Pollard did was a sarcastic 'Thanks for cutting into our set, guys' before playing their show On the other hand: - Ted and his brother decided to stick around for nearly an hour and a half to give them poo poo - Give them poo poo for pointing out they were an opening band who had decided to play extra and take from their set when no one was there to see them - He pushed a man in his late 40s after accosting him - When Robert Pollard tried to get away, he sucker-punched him. Now you can go ahead and say that Nate went too far with the heater, and I'm not going to disagree, but here you have a bunch of guys in their 20s waiting around and getting ready to assault people in their late 40s even after they were just leaving and wanted nothign to do with them. Then sucker-punched one of them and almost knocked him out. What were they supposed to do? Not fight back and let them stomp on Robert? I don't see how you could lose respect for Guided by Voices as a whole for this. Nate, possibly, but what the gently caress did the rest of the band do that was wrong? Especially when Ted himself came out and said it was all his fault and apologized for this and said he was very ashamed of his behavior?
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May 2, 2013 23:23
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Twee as gently caress posted:Keeping up with Pollard is like a full time job. I listened to ELL, I have yet to give Down by the Race Track a spin, I have a backlog of like 20 solo/collaboration RP to buy/go through. When I have some spare cash, I'll go to GBV Digital and just buy a random Pollard album. You'll usually end up with a bunch of filler, but also get one or two gems that make it all worth it. Speaking of Pollard side-projects, I really liked the last Lifeguards album too. It's worth checking out. I got a copy of Bee Thousand at a GoodWill years ago, and after I finished listening to it I was hooked. I started to get as much GBV stuff as I could. From the lo-fi classic lineup, to their power-pop major albums, they are fantastic. Hell, for one of my Japanese classes a few years back, I got to give a speech about them to my class. It was both awesome and awkward for most of my classmates, who had never heard of them. I uploaded the PowerPoint to my skydrive. Although I will disagree with the OP about Do The Collapse. To me, Ric Ocasek's production made that album way too sterile, and I hate the keyboards they used. I'm fine with the cleaned up production, but I would rather go with Isolation Drills instead. It's a lot stronger. Also, the video for Glad Girls is pretty cool.
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May 3, 2013 16:21
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Twee as gently caress posted:
They should be more ashamed, as 40-year-old men, for beating up 20-year-olds who, at 20 years younger were still acting half their age to begin with. Math. I didn't say I lost respect for GBV as a whole, but I've definitely lost interest.
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May 4, 2013 22:29
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drasticactions posted:When I have some spare cash, I'll go to GBV Digital and just buy a random Pollard album. You'll usually end up with a bunch of filler, but also get one or two gems that make it all worth it. Oh yeah I should add GBV Digital to the OP, such a great resource. I really liked the Lifeguards album too. Did you give that presentation in Japan or State-side? As a thread, we should come up with lists of tracks to check out on those smaller releases, or the huge amount of outtakes/etc on stuff like Suitcase and Hardcore UFOs. I mean, just for Suitcase 1 to 3, it's 300 songs and frankly a lot of that material (on the third one anyway) feels like Bob just got drunk and had the tape rolling and stuff happened.
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May 5, 2013 01:58
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juniperjones posted:They should be more ashamed, as 40-year-old men, for beating up 20-year-olds who, at 20 years younger were still acting half their age to begin with.
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May 5, 2013 05:07
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Twee as gently caress posted:Oh yeah I should add GBV Digital to the OP, such a great resource. I really liked the Lifeguards album too. Did you give that presentation in Japan or State-side? Unfortunately, it was State-side, Although a good half of the class was Korean and Chinese. I wish I kept a draft of it, because it was pretty funny. I went over the history of the band, what "Lo-Fi" was, a bit about Pollard, and played some clips of the songs. The whole assignment was to make a presentation about something we liked (With the only requirement being that it was not Anime or Manga.) and I actually got an A on it. My teacher also said she liked Motor Away, so it was a success all around.
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May 5, 2013 05:24
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What the hell are you talking about, 'realize how good it was'? Everybody knows Do The Collapse sucked hard.
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May 5, 2013 05:47
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Anyone else think Mag Earwhig! is really underrated? I'd only put it a little below the Bee Thousand/Alien Lanes caliber stuff, and I find myself listening to it more than those albums lately.Twee as gently caress posted:As a thread, we should come up with lists of tracks to check out on those smaller releases, or the huge amount of outtakes/etc on stuff like Suitcase and Hardcore UFOs. "Death of the Party" is definitely my favorite non-GBV Pollard song. The guitars in this song sound so perfect. I also really like "There Never Was A Sea Of Love" by Mars Classroom. Easily stands with the best of the later GBV albums.
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May 5, 2013 06:11
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New Pollard track on StereoGum. Sounds pretty good, especially considering English Little league came out just last week and we're already on a new Pollard solo album.
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May 6, 2013 18:19
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I only know the major songs / albums of GBV that were already posted but I have a roommate who's obsessed with them so I always get to hear random cool poo poo. The Ted Leo story rules and makes me like them way more. Fighting is cool. Also, author Dennis Cooper is a big GBV fan and incorporated their songs into his novel Guide, and his short story collection Ugly Man has a Top 50 list of Pollard songs at the end. There's a blog somewhere where someone found all the GBV lyrics in Guide and linked the songs.
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May 6, 2013 19:30
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Fakeedit:^^^ I love the fact that, when asked in an interview 'So why did you just sit down on that bench and started to make out with that girl instead of, you know, running away from the cops', Nate's answer was 'Well, I watch a lot of movies and it always works'drasticactions posted:New Pollard track on StereoGum. Sounds pretty good, especially considering English Little league came out just last week and we're already on a new Pollard solo album. Of course Robert Pollard is set to release a new album in two months. After all, how could GBV fans could survive without him releasing six albums and one EP in a year and a half? That track is pretty good, too.
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May 6, 2013 19:40
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"Drunken indie rockers get in a fight" is something that applies to like... poo poo, I don't know, dozens of amazing bands. It's not exactly on the level of the poo poo that bands like Metallica do to their groupies, or the fact that Impotent Sea Snakes loving drugged and tried to rape a couple girls I know a decade ago. Hell, the last time I saw Spiritualized, Jason got pissed for whatever reason and threw his water bottle at one of the guitar players, while his electric guitar was still plugged in. That theoretically could have killed people! precision fucked around with this message at 04:16 on May 7, 2013 |
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May 7, 2013 03:32
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precision posted:or the fact that Alien Sex Fiend loving drugged and tried to rape a couple girls I know a decade ago. Wait, what? Got more details?
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May 7, 2013 03:49
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Twee as gently caress posted:Wait, what? Got more details? While fact-checking, I had my flashy gothy bands with weird names mixed it - it was actually the Impotent Sea Snakes. Anyway: I went to see them at a place called Moose's (or maybe it was renamed Barley and Hops by then, either way it's closed now) around 2000 (actually, I think it was '99 because I don't remember my ex being with me). This was Knoxville, TN. Impotent Sea Snakes were from Georgia, and well known to have a really fun, cool live show with naked people and fun stuff. Like a non-gross, non-violent GWAR, sort of. After the show, a few girls I knew from the Goth scene hung out with the band, having some drinks. They didn't have many drinks, and they came to in the band's van which was parked at a truck stop way outside of town, at which point the band members (I don't remember which ones, but I'm guessing "all of them", including the women) tried to get sexy with them, were told "no" many times before they stopped, and were kicked out of the van, which sped away and, since this was before cell phones, stranded the girls until they could get to a pay phone, at which point me and a couple others drove down to pick them up. They never filed charges, but some other people in the scene went down to Atlanta and threatened the band, I think they roughed them up a little too. Needless to say, they never played in Knoxville again. It was kind of a huge deal in town, but the story seemed to never really get out to the general public (early days of the Internet and all that, maybe). Funny enough, here are some excerpts from their wiki: quote:Safe sex I used to have a bunch of condoms from that show, but they got used in times when I couldn't find any others. e: And you really don't want to know what a stadium employee I knew told me about Metallica's groupie abuse. Three words: Drumsticks in asses.
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May 7, 2013 04:15
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Jeff Wiiver posted:Who the gently caress cares what the people in the band are like? Separate the art from the artist and listen to the music if you like it. I'm a Courtney Love fan, so I don't really think I have a hard time doing that. precision posted:
OK, so... I obviously blew the whole "fight" thing out of proportion. I still think it's lame and pathetic, but there's worse things bands have done. Hell, making me think about Courtney Love just reminded me about how many stupid rear end fights she's gotten in. juniperjones fucked around with this message at 18:37 on May 7, 2013 |
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May 7, 2013 18:34
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juniperjones posted:All respect for all parties involved lost. What an embarrassing story. I mean, a lot of it is people make bad decisions when drunk, and talented people in their 20s can be arrogant at times. Good people have gotten in fights before, the difference is how they act afterwards and realize "Well that was a mistake". I'm not going to fault Ted for making a bad decision in his 20s when a lot of people are arrogant especially since he's apologized, and I don't really feel like GBV was instigating it outside of a bit of sarcasm (which could just be some arrogance on their part too). As far as GBV goes, I haven't actually listened to all that much of theirs, but I really enjoy Cymbals Eat Guitars' cover of their song "Gleemer" a lot.
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May 7, 2013 18:40
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RME, seriously go and buy 'Human Amusement at Hourly Rates' you will all thank us later.  for 32 awesome songs. Never heard that cover, I'll give it a spin. oh, and precision, yeah that makes a lot more sense, cause ASF are a married couple, so that story would have been even more than it already was.
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May 7, 2013 19:08
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Twee as gently caress posted:RME, seriously go and buy 'Human Amusement at Hourly Rates' you will all thank us later. I got Alien Lanes and Bee Thousand a while ago with the intention of listening to them, but they kind of just got lost in backlog. Also I'm not really a fan of greatest hits albums for anyone on the whole either.
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May 7, 2013 19:31
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RME posted:I got Alien Lanes and Bee Thousand a while ago with the intention of listening to them, but they kind of just got lost in backlog. Also I'm not really a fan of greatest hits albums for anyone on the whole either. I usually hate Greatest Hits albums, but they have hundreds of songs out so it's nice to be able to go and get all the greatest in one cd, as I said in the OP. Heck, I own all of their albums and boxsets and I still listen to Human Amusement regularly
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May 7, 2013 19:34
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On a very long trip once, I tried listening to the entire Propeller-and-beyond discography, in order. After 7 hours, I think I had made it to 1995, maybe. Also, I was thoroughly sick of them for weeks afterwards. I hate to say it, but I mostly only ever listen to Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes these days.
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May 7, 2013 20:01
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