Alien Lanes
Guided By Voices
1995
Album Summary
Alien Lanes is the eighth full-length album by American lo-fi band Guided by Voices, released on April 4, 1995.The album was GBV's first release with Matador Records. According to James Greer's book Guided by Voices: A Brief History: Twenty-One Years of Hunting Accidents in the Forests of Rock and Roll the advance for the record was close to a hundred thousand dollars, one of the more expensive deals in Matador's history. In contrast to the lucrative deal, Greer mentions that "The cost for recording Alien Lanes, if you leave out the beer, was about ten dollars."
Wikipedia3.8 - Sounds like flipping through AM radio in a dream. A really enjoyable listen that I’ll probably need to return to fully appreciate.
God I love this record. Little snippets of pop rock, lo-fi goodness. Robert Pollard and company create little worlds for you to live in sonically and then are immediately transported from one song to the next at a blistering pace. There are some moments on this record that remind me of The Beach Boys, the Beatles and Big Star but only if they had a 4 track recorder set up in their high school bedroom. It’s a phenomenal listen and only rivaled by Bee Thousand in their discography. Favorite song(s): Game of Pricks and Motor Away (I had to include two) Least favorite song: Hit
I don't really know how I feel about this album. In some ways I really like it, but my overall impression is just...meh. Things I like about it: Very British Invasion meets early punk vibes. Honestly there are a lot of songs on this album that caught my attention (with 28 songs I expected at least a few would grab me). They're Not Witches, Game of Pricks, The Ugly Vision, Closer You Are, Striped White Jets, and Alright are ones that really stood out in my mind. The cover art is super cool. Things I don't like: I cannot stand the mix. I get what they were going for with the dirty, fuzzy sound but I fucking HATE it. The guitar tones on this album are fantastic but I feel like that gets so muddy and hidden in the mix. This would easily be a 3 or 4 star album for me if it were a little "cleaner" sounding. The length of the songs is a little off putting at times. It felt liek as soon as I started to really vibe with a song, it ended. I don't think every song needs to be 4+ minutes long, but I found myself wishing that many of the songs were at least slightly longer. 2 out of 5 stars. I found it hard to look past the mix quality which really made it difficult for me to enjoy a lot of the album. I read the entry for this album in the book and frankly I don't really understand why it belongs on the list? It's not bad but doesn't strike me as particularly outstanding either.
Sounds like a weird demo tape. 17 second songs, many of them sounding unfinished.
A songwriting expo if there ever was one. I love this lofi 90s rock sound and this album gives me a lot of it. Works better as a whole album listen versus just hearing individual tracks, given the short length of the songs. "Motor Away" fills me with an odd bliss every time I hear it.
This is very swag album the length of some songs bothers me but most of the time it doesn’t matter that they’re short because it means there’s a lot of changes in the album and it keeps it very interesting. There is definitely some filler on here but I mean I did expect that from a 28 song album. I enjoyed this and will probably return to this. 7,3/10
I think the best thing about this album is how generous it is. Tons of material, little running more than a minute thirty. If you don't like one, it's gone and the next one is there. And there is much more to like than dislike.
Huh, I was a bit nonplussed by this at first but had a vague sense it'd grow on me if I gave it a chance. Sure enough, third listen, properly starting to appreciate it. Feels a bit like the album equivalent of a Rick & Morty inter-dimensional cable episode... Even the snoring track makes sense in that context! Fave track - "As We Go Up, We Go Down". Poppy niceness.
Such lovely, lively lo-fi. GBV keeps excellent company, too; that the streamers go from last cut of the record to an excellent cut from Yo La Tengo (a most egregious exclusion from this esteemed index) tells you what you need to know. Their brand new record (fall 2022) suggests how close RP has stayed to the vision, though perhaps not always to the optimal effect.
Guided by Voices are a band that favour the quantity over quality approach which usually makes their albums a bit hard to listen to in full but this is a great album and somehow manages to stay cohesive despite having many short songs. The songs are catchy and fun while never overstaying their welcome.
It's surprising what a difference it makes when a musician knows someone will actually be hearing his work. After 1994's charmingly sloppy Bee Thousand gained Guided By Voices a nationwide cult following (instead of the local cult following they were accustomed to), 1995's Alien Lanes found Robert Pollard and his partners in hard pop cleaning up their act a bit. For the most part, Alien Lanes isn't radically different from Bee Thousand -- it was primarily recorded on a four-track cassette machine (and sounds like it), and Guided By Voices was still a garage band with more in the way of inspiration than chops. But the musicians have put a bit more care and focus into their performance on this set; the playing is tighter and sharper, and the band plays toward their strengths, pushing their occasional sloppiness into a harder, more rock-oriented direction.
28 songs in 41 minutes. Most of them very catchy and with high energy. Was surprised at how much i liked this one.
Disarm the settlers The new drunk drivers Have hoisted the flag We are with you in your anger - A salty salute
** Lo-fi se pojavio tijekom pojave američke underground scene 1980-ih kao sirovi, bučni stil Indie Rocka. Njegovo ime potječe od upotrebe opreme za proizvodnju i snimanje low-fidelitya, što mu daje nečist i izrazito trošan zvuk. ** "The Club is Open." ovaj album, općenito lo-fi/slacker rock kako su počeli nazivat ovaj žanr mi je prirasto srcu, zavolio sam ga pravo te mi je "lofilia" plejlista za ovakve stvari poput ovog albuma i "Bee Thousand". Mnogo klasika još mogu izvući iz rukava ovoga kalibra low-fidelity-a, ali nadam se da će biti na 1001...Album koji možeš slušati na vrućini, onako, sirovo, nedovršeno, prljavo?, bučno, odvojeno od svega. Nije za svakoga, to znam, ali eto drago mi je da je meni nešto ni blizu savršenog - jako blizu savršenoga. Jednostavno, ali djeluje. Ovako, album ima stvarno dosta pjesama, slažem se, kratke su, u tom je čar, baš zato i treba imat puno dobrih pjesama, a u ovom slučaju nabrajam klasike (IMO) lo-fi glazbe -> Game of Pricks, My Valuable Hunting Knife, A Salty Salute, As We Go Up, We Go Down, Watch Me Jumpstart, Blimps Go 90 (ovo je <3) i Always Crush Me. Album nije čista desetka, više je 9/10, nekad jednostavno još nešto malo fali ili ima nečeg viška, ali ako se pusti u jednom cugu sve, ima tu svoju toplinu koju volim. Još nešta da kažem, uskoro dolazi vrijeme za moju "lofiliju" i radujem se tome. :)
Pretty great stuff. Reminds me of a lot of demo tracks from other bands. I hear some early Weezer in here. I hear some early Mountain Goats. Short, sweet tracks and a short, sweet album. I like it!
Ik kan gaan proberen uit te leggen waarom dit zo briljant is, maar voor de mensen die dit voor het eerst horen zou dat een totaal onbegrijpelijk verhaal zijn. Dus laat die eenen en tweeen maar komen, ik knal er alvast 5 tegenaan! En Jurrien: kom d'r maar in!
Als ik dit hoor en mijn ogen sluit ben ik met Arie weer bij GBV in de Melkweg ergens halverwege de jaren 90. Dit album is echt de soundtrack van mijn jeugd, terwijl ik 'm hoogstwaarschijnlijk niet te pruimen zou vinden als ik 'm nu voor het eerst op zou zetten ;)
What a great album. Sometimes I wish the songs were a bit longer, but it definitely is a great listen front to back. 4.5/5
Eigentlich wirklich gut. Die idee scheint aber zu sein dass man viele Lieder hat, von denen ein paar verzichtbar und ein paar lieber länger wären
Lofi mid 90s indie. Think I'd been all over this if I'd heard it back in the day
The album is a series of very short songs, the tunes all are similar early 90s rock, sounds like Brit-rock or even hints of Sloan in a way. The songs all being very short seem to have a chorus or hook they're written around, and then move onto the next one, similar to the Minutemen. Good tunes, album keeps things moving and it was all fairly consistent/enjoyable. The downside is no song really stands out, they're over so quick. It all just blends into a generic 90s rock session as a result.
The length of the songs was off putting. It felt like as soon as I started to really enjoy a song, it ended. I just wish a lot of the songs were longer. Anyway there are a lot of songs on this album that caught my attention. Solid album 4/5
Didn't know this guy before, but the sound is very familiar. Grew up with a lot of bands in this wheel house, some of my favourites, so I can see this album deserves the recognition.
This was really enjoyable. Definitely one to listen to as a whole though
A bloated album of punchy songs, and I love the edge here, even if it misses (looking at you Hit)
pretty good album - 8/10 it’s nice the songs don’t last very long because some of them are a little annoying favorite song is probably The Ugly Vision, it had a nice lofi/grungey vibe, like Neutral Milk Hotel meets Nirvana, I liked it
A kad si ujutro misliš “neda mi se slušat dns nek bude nešt šta znam i onda ti generira album koji znaš i onak “DA TO ĆU SLUŠAT” znaš da je dobar
Bajo moj pjesme su prekratke. Uživiš se u neku i puf, nema više. Cover je odbojan i jako me naljutio. Ali unatoč svemu ljubav pobjeđuje i ja ću se vraćati na ovaj album!
What a cool album, I really liked it and I enjoyed it almost all the way through
This is decent background music. Nothing spectacular and nothing terrible. Nice and steady.
7/10. A couple pretty good songs, lot more pretty mediocre ones, but even a mediocre song can be interesting for a minute.
The fact that it’s got so many tracks makes it feel much longer than it is but the album is very enjoyable 4/5.
I absolutely love this beautiful mess of an album and I love more every time I listen to it. Top tracks: Evil Speakers, They're Not Witches, (I Wanna Be A) Dumbcharger, Pimple Zoo, and Always Crush Me.
This is the kind of album that makes it clear why this is "albums you must hear" and not "the best albums." I'm glad I listened to this once and I will not likely choose to listen again. But I've got respect for musicians who say, "I've got an idea for a song," and then just record a song that's 50 seconds long --- no padding, no filler, no long solos, just...here's the song. Lyrics don't need to rhyme or make sense --- the whole album felt very stream-of-consciousness and I appreciated that. The songier songs sounded like 60s British invasion covered by a grunge band and even some of the vocals sounded a bit like Paul McCartney.
I lack useful skepticism when enough thrown material sticks to a wall, at least when that material tastes good already. Perhaps objectively, though, Guided By Voices maneuvers around the common unfulfilled feeling mostly, and sets up the Alien Lanes tracklist as a kind of history. I found that the psych moments worked a lot better than the meditations on a single chord, but every song felt like part of the whole. A little exhausting, even, two-minutes-a-song aside.
In just 41 minutes, we get spammed with 28 songs that take on so many different styles, influenced by 60s pop (Beatlesesque, psychedelia, sunshine) and their contemporaries in power pop. It's a unique sound and concept that feels like a strange mix of poorly recorded pop songs, which is exactly what it is. The jumps are sometimes smooth but sometimes sudden. They execute the lo-fi style incredibly well to the point that I feel the album would be far worse if not for the high distortion and muddled distant vocals. There're a ton of strange and cool sounds in here. You can tell they swapped what instrument everyone played, and I've heard they did things like drumming on trash lids and slapping Pollard's back to get a vibrato (sounds like "Chicken Blows"?). There are plenty of standout songs that I'll for sure throw in my playlists as a short intermission. Some catchy, some mesmerizing. But for the most part, this is an experience to be enjoyed all the way through. I started listing my favorite songs but the list ended up being over half the album and I'm not even sure there's a single song I wouldn't put on that list if I thought about it hard enough.
This was a nice surprise. A bit different to have so many shorter songs, a bit punky in that respect. I recognised some of the songs I think. Will definitely give it another go. Reminded me of a combo of Tame Impala and some of the more psych stuff of the Beatles actually at times
I really like this album. I've actually been listening to it a bit lately already because I've always been interested in Guided By Voices but was intimidated by their massive catalog. I asked some coworkers who are into GBV on recommendations for which album to start with and they pointed me towards 'Alien Lanes'. For being a 28-track album, it breezes by, probably because it's also only 41 minutes. This can be both a positive and a negative though cause there are really catchy songs I wish would go on longer or would develop a bit more. But I also have to admire that they're willing to take an amazing melody or concept and not wear it out by forcing it into a 5 minute track (the longest song is under 3 min at 2:58), just make it a 90 second song and go onto the next one. I can always just listen to those ones again if I want more. Standout Tracks: A Salty Salute, Watch Me Jumpstart, As We Go Up We Go Down, Game of Pricks, Closer You Are, My Valuable Hunting Knife, King and Caroline, Ex-Supermodel, Blimps Go 90, Little Whirl, My Son Cool, Alright
It was interesting, a little different with the song lengths and everything. Some songs did feel like they could be at least 3 minutes long and some shorter. Very experimental with what kind of sounds it can play with, but not the best thing to exist.
Bit of a Doors sound with some punk mixed in and psychedelic undertones
A bit strange in that most of the songs are like 1-2 minutes long. Sound is a little like REM or Whitney, depending on the song. Some songs are musically interesting, but mostly not what I want to listen to casually .
My spotify kept messing this up so I missed a few tracks (just refused to play) - but still good
No conocía a la banda. De primera vista, lista interminable de canciones cortísimas estaba seguro iba a ser punk hardcore o algo similar. Sorpresivamente empezó a sonar rock alternativo... y con una grabación que parecía un bootleg. Se siente improvisado en todos aspectos, parece que esta uno escuchando un ensayo o una sesión de lluvia de ideas de una banda y ese justamente es gran parte siento del encanto que tiene el disco... afortunadamente pasa más allá de ser solo una curiosidad. Detrás del sonido de baja calidad y las canciones de 30 segundos empiezan a salir melodías y más melodías... de hecho melodías muy buenas en algunas ocasiones. En la segunda vuelta todo fue mejorando, se empiezan a apreciar más la forma de las canciones e incluso con solo haberlas escuchado una vez y durando tan poco empieza uno a tararear esas melodías; creo que esto habla muy bien del grupo. Leyendo la historia es muy interesante, al parecer eran una banda local muy prometedora, medio protegidos de Sonic Youth y la disquera les dio presupuesto de sobra pero decidieron grabar solamente con lo que tenían ya en casa y, supuestamente, todo el disco les costó "10 USD." Todo el disco se siente muy honesto y es agradable, a ratos se siente desaprovechado el pensar que pudieran haber sido mucho más grandes pero por lo que leo siempre se sintieron satisfechos siguiendo como una verdadera banda pequeña y hasta la fecha sigue activa la banda (se me ocurrió ver una presentación en vivo y ya después hicieron canciones en forma bien hechas). Disco muy interesante, muy melódico, muy agradable, es bastante más que solo la curiosidad de la banda que graba en verdadero lo-fi, pero tampoco creo que vaya a dejar atónito a nadie.
On dirait les Beatles qui ont baisé avec les beachboys! Musique tres entraînantes mais ça sonne comme un album très bien réussi pour un garage band et non un chef d’œuvre musical! Je l’évite: Chicken blows, pourquoi chanter avec les doigts dans gueules! Ex-supermodel, les ronflements , Criss de connerie qui diminue la crédibilité et mon appréciation Je lévite l’album est bon dans l’ensemble pas trouver de hits
28 Songs? Ja, da wollte man unbedingt jede Skizze in die Bewerbungsmappe knallen, hat man doch so einige sympathisch schräge Kritzeleien zu bieten. Das ist manchmal so herrlich leidenschaftlich wie schrecklich dilettantisch sodass ich schwanke zwischen „OMG!!!“ und „herrje“ Mit zittriger Hand 2.5
I didn't have time to give this more than a hurried listen. So assuming I'd like it more the second time around, I'll give it that mark. Short songs.
Quite a disjointed album and quite a challenging listening experience as a result. Having said that I liked the music and the lofi vibe even if it ultimately reminded me of other bands I'd rather listen to. 6.5/10
I listened to it twice and it started growing on me. Some decent power pop a la REM or Big Star, but I would have like fewer but more developed songs. Some were pretty good, some could have been left off the album.
Interesting, diverse collection of indie, lo-fi songs. Would be rated higher but there's quite a lot of random crappier songs mixed in with the gems.
Sounds like a jam session where an indie band run through snippets of their repertoire but it's actually their full album. Some of the lo-fi indie tracks are appealing (learnt that term from pete's review yesterday) and I enjoyed the album on the whole. I think the format of the album is interesting and is saying something about mass consumerism and the ever depreciating attention span. If they thought that was bad in 1995 then they should get a load of... Sorry, what was I talking about?
28 songs?..... Too many songs and the songs are too short Favorites: Salty Salute (a bop) Watch Me Jumpstart As We Go Up, We Go Down The Ugly Vision Motor Away
Als Indie noch Indie war... Schöner reduzierter Indie Rock, mit leider manchmal etwas sehr kurzen Stücken.
Solid example of indie/alternative/college rock from mid 90's. My issue is that the songs are too short to be memorable. I like the ideas, but I wish there 1/3 of the number of songs with each being 2 - 3 times longer.