OFF: Guided By Voices

[K Henderson]

>Theo, did you go to the GBV show at Armory High? I was way up toward the
>front, so I didn't get to see most of the crowd. Fun show! I heard all of my
>favorite GBV songs except "Echoes Myron" and it was nice to see them playing
>so much of the new album. Well, I guess since it's #1 in the college radio
>charts, that's not a surprise. Either was the fact that it was such a young
>crowd. Closing with Baba O'Riley was cool too--I was actually wearing my Who
>t-shirt. The only drawbacks I saw were that Robert Pollard was trying too
>hard to be Roger Daltry, not just during the Who cover, and one of the
>guitarists was trying too hard to pose like Mick Jagger. ;-)

Alright, what the hell is this band like?  Of course, they're big around
these parts given that they're from a stone's throw west of here (Columbus
OH), but I've never heard a single song of theirs.  I've always assumed that
they must be that same sort of 'indie rock' that includes other names that
I've never heard (and hence can't describe either) like Belle & Sebastien,
that Sleater-Kinney group whoever that may be, and that dude from Portland,
OR (can't remember his name). These are all artists I'm pretty sure I
wouldn't like <cynicism mode on> just because of the way they look or what
other names they're associated with <cynicism mode off>, or simply because
they show up on the covers of magazines, and that automatically makes them
no good.  (Oh wait, I just saw Lemmy's ugly mug on the cover of Goldmine, so
scratch that thought!)

But I'm now starting to see their name appear more and more on lists/boards
co-mingling with 'good' stuff.  And that makes me curious as to whether I'm
really missing something or not.

So, do they just sing (or whine) along to mindless jangly guitar bits while
looking lost and forlorn and hanging on their microphone stand like they're
about to keel over, or has my cynical mind just gotten away from me?

Grakkl (FAA)

ObCD: Farflung w/ Nik Turner Live at Strange Daze '99 (the others are pretty
darn strong as well!  The Harvey '00 one actually sounds far more
interesting than what I remembered from actually being at the show - I can
actually here all of what Harvey was saying...I have almost no recollection
whatsoever of the Farflung '99 set sadly.)