Reviews (page 2 of 8)
17th album with group. I love lo-fi stuff. I’ve always thought music was better when it was a little raw. For example, Helter Skelter is the best Beatles song. Great album I’ve never heard of before. Good Songs - A Salty Salute, Evil Speakers, Watch Me Jumpstart, They’re Not Witches, As We Go Up, We Go Down, (I Wanna Be A) Dumbcharger, Game of Pricks, The Ugly Vision, A Good Flying Bird, Cigarette Tricks, Pimple Zoo, Big Chief Chinese Restaurant, Closer You Are, Auditorium, Motor Away, Hit, My Valuable Hunting Knife, Gold Hick, King and Caroline, Striped White Jets, Ex-Supermodel, Blimps Go 90, Strawdogs, Chicken Blows, Little Whirl, My Son Cool, Always Crush Me, and Alright. Bad Songs - Nothing.
It's like novocaine. Just give it time, always works. This record embodies the 90s too-cool-to-try ethos as well as any. But for my money, this school teacher pounding out half-baked ideas in his garage, stumbling into the odd power pop masterpiece like “Game of Pricks,” is way more rock 'n' roll than anything that came out of the sunset strip in the 80s. Call it hipster propaganda but I really believe it. It's British Invasion, pop and punk—a mixed but joyous grab-bag of great hooks, tape hiss, and nonsense. Took me a few listens but I adore it. Cover sure captures the music.
in bob we trust
I love this album <3
The Pollard/Sprout combo was a hook writing machine. There are so many gems on this but that’s something that can be said about every GBV record or Pollard’s career in general.
I really like this era of GBV. Between this and Bee Thousand it's hard to pick a favorite. "Game of Pricks" is a stand out and a good place to start.
Love this album since my university times from the very first seconds. One of those really rare things in life you revisit again and again over decades.
# 🎸 In-Depth Review: Guided By Voices' *Alien Lanes* (1995) ## 📀 Introduction *Alien Lanes* is the eighth studio album by Guided By Voices (GBV), released in 1995 on Matador Records. Recorded on a 4-track cassette recorder with a reported production cost of just $10 (excluding beer), the album embodies the lo-fi ethos of the 1990s indie rock scene. With 28 tracks crammed into 41 minutes, it is a whirlwind of creative energy, blending punk spontaneity, power-pop hooks, and surreal lyricism. Below, we break down the album’s lyrics, music, production, themes, and influence, followed by its pros and cons. --- ## 📝 Lyrics Robert Pollard’s lyrics on *Alien Lanes* are a mix of cryptic poetry, introspective confessionals, and surreal imagery. Themes range from personal anxiety and disillusionment to whimsical storytelling. For example: - **"Game of Pricks"** explores emotional vulnerability with lines like *"You could never be strong / You can only be free,"* reflecting Pollard’s struggles with authenticity and relationships. - **"Motor Away"** combines escapism with self-doubt, as Pollard sings, *"You can’t lie to yourself that it’s the chance of a lifetime,"* capturing the tension between ambition and reality. - **"As We Go Up, We Go Down"** addresses the band’s sudden fame and the pressure that accompanied it, with the defiant line, *"Leave my fucking life alone"*. Pollard’s writing style is often fragmented and open to interpretation, drawing comparisons to British Invasion pop and punk poets like Buzzcocks. His ability to blend humor, irony, and sincerity gives the lyrics a unique emotional weight. --- ## 🎶 Music Musically, *Alien Lanes* is a masterclass in lo-fi indie rock, featuring: - **Short, Punchy Songs**: Tracks like "Evil Speakers" (0:58) and "Hit" (0:30) are bursts of energy that never overstay their welcome. - **Melodic Hooks**: Songs like "Closer You Are" and "Watch Me Jumpstart" are infused with catchy, Beatles-esque melodies. - **Genre-Blending**: The album seamlessly shifts between power pop ("Game of Pricks"), garage rock ("Pimple Zoo"), and psychedelic fragments ("Cigarette Tricks"). The band’s performance is raw and energetic, with Tobin Sprout’s jangly guitars and Kevin Fennell’s propulsive drums providing a perfect backdrop for Pollard’s anthemic vocals. --- ## 🎛️ Production The production is deliberately lo-fi, recorded on a Tascam 4-track cassette recorder in basements. Key characteristics include: - **Minimalist Aesthetic**: The album prioritizes spontaneity over polish, with mistakes left intact (e.g., the guitar cutout in "Hardcore UFOs"). - **Tape Hiss and Distortion**: The pervasive hiss and muffled vocals create an intimate, DIY feel that aligns with the album’s themes of authenticity. - **Sequencing**: The album’s flow is carefully curated, with shorter tracks acting as transitions between more fully realized songs. This approach contrasts with the slick production of mainstream ’90s rock, making *Alien Lanes* a landmark of lo-fi aesthetics. --- ## 🧠 Themes *Alien Lanes* explores several recurring themes: 1. **Anxiety and Disillusionment**: Pollard grapples with the pressures of newfound fame and the fear of selling out. 2. **Escapism**: Tracks like "Motor Away" and "Watch Me Jumpstart" romanticize the idea of breaking free from constraints. 3. **Nostalgia and Identity**: Pollard reflects on his blue-collar Midwest roots while channeling British rock influences. 4. **Surrealism**: Lyrics often veer into absurdist territory (e.g., "Blimps Go 90"), adding a layer of playful mystery. --- ## 🏆 Influence *Alien Lanes* has had a lasting impact on: - **Lo-Fi and Indie Rock**: Bands like Car Seat Headrest and early Pavement drew inspiration from its DIY ethos. - **Power Pop**: The album’s concise, hook-driven songs influenced modern power pop acts. - **Creative Freedom**: Its rejection of studio gloss encouraged artists to prioritize creativity over budget constraints. --- ## ✔️ Pros and ❌ Cons | **Pros** | **Cons** | |-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------| | 🎵 Catchy, memorable hooks throughout. | 🎤 Some tracks feel underdeveloped or fragmentary (e.g., "Gold Hick"). | | 📀 Raw, authentic production enhances its charm. | 🔊 Lo-fi sound may be abrasive to some listeners. | | 📖 Lyrical depth blends humor and vulnerability. | 🎧 Sequencing can feel disjointed on first listen. | | 🏆 Influential in indie and lo-fi genres. | 🎸 Limited appeal for fans of polished production. | --- ## 💎 Conclusion *Alien Lanes* remains a landmark album in Guided By Voices’ discography and a touchstone of 1990s indie rock. Its combination of raw production, inventive songwriting, and emotional depth makes it a rewarding listen for those willing to embrace its imperfections. While not without flaws, its pros far outweigh its cons, solidifying its status as a classic.
It's great. It was a very necessary piece of music.
LOV THIS! Thank you!! This was my first album I listened to on here. Ever! I immediately listened to the whole thing. I loved the entire thing. What a time to be alive.
Unapologetic Guided by Voices fan that celebrates their entire catalog, the celebration is long and I'm a complete mess at the end, sort of like a lot of GBV songs!
G!B!V! G!B!V!
"Wow... every once in a while you get a pleasant surprise... my first time hearing this act was this morning... and i really like this record... 28 songs! lol... but... the good news... they average less than 2 minutes long... the obvious comparison is early REM... but these guys have HOOKS GALORE... and they get the idea over... in under two minutes... that is amazing... the closer you are the quicker it hits ya... lol... as they sing in "Closer You Are"... one of longer songs at one minute, 56 seconds... "My Valuable Hunting Knife" is a two minute pop gem... etc... "Blimps Go 90" is also a highlight... The album closes with the longest song, almost THREE minutes! lol.. "Alright" is and EPIC closer... applying the theory of relativity... lol... also, i love this record because it was recorded like i record... in a home studio... some genres, artists, etc sound better when recorded and produced with the maximum amount of cleanliness... this record is raw... like RnR should be... it's politically incorrect... it's punk... but it's pop... and it's 100% RnR... Robert Pollard is the singer, and songwriter... FIVE STARS."
Really enjoyed this
Raw, kooky indy.
Good
Incredible album everyone should love.
Incredibly good collection of sweet little song ideas, all thrown together into a melting pot of lo-fi guitar fuzz.
In most contexts, 41 minutes isn't a very long time at all, albums included. But within that little, precious amount of time, Guided By Voices sketch up an entire little universe. Like in a kaleidoscope, each vignette offers a glimpse into a different place and time, each with its own ideas, emotions and moods. Still, the album never sounds disjointed or unfocused, the whole thing being held together by its meticulously executed DIY ethos.
Interesting. I will be listening to more of their stuff after this.
they’re like that weather joke that people tell no matter where they live: if you don’t like the song, just wait 100 seconds
Beautiful rough
Excuse me. This was brilliant. No further notes.
"Alien Lanes" is the eighth full-length album by American lo-fi rock band Guided by Voices. Indie rock, lo-fi and power pop are the Wiki-listed genres and they all fit. It was the band's first release with the Metador label where they were fronted $100,000 and they claimed to have made the album for $10 (not including the beer). The album received very positive reviews with one critic commenting "hooky rock that infuses songwriting smarts and a love of melody with a sometimes spiky, sometimes whimsical sense of experimentation." Guided by Voices is led by Robert Pollard (vocals, guitar, drums, percussion and the albums' producer). Pollard is joined by Tobin Sprout (guitars, vocals, bass, drums, piano, percussion), Jim Pollard (bass), Mitch Mitchell (guitar, bass), Kevin Fennell (drums, percussion), Jim Greer (bass, backing vocals) and Greg Demos (bass, guitar, violin). "A Salty Salute" kickstarts things. Thumping bass, tinny drums and a low-key guitar. Throaty Robert Pollard. Very lo-fi but very melodic and rockin' too. It's a drinking song...imagine that! A grungy, dirty guitar highlights "Watch Me Jumpstart." Dual vocals. Boy, these guys don't have issues with melodies. Pollard describes the difficult combination of the rock and roll and normal life styles in "As We Go Up, We Go Down." A song that builds with great backing vocals. The band's power pop melody comes to a crescendo in "Game of Pricks." 60's sound...an almost perfect song. Pollard warns of deceptive people. The band throws in distorted guitars in "My Valuable Hunting Knife." Also, a repeating guitar riff and percussion and that's about it. He's sick of everyone and wants to get away. Well, he'll need a hunting knife. "Striped White Jets" has driving guitars, cymbals and repetitive feedback; that is all. You know about 21 songs in, I said these guys need strings. So in comes a violin on "Blimps Go 90." A bass-led melody. Carrying the power pop flag and a little folkish. The album ends with the longest song "Alright" clocking in at 2:58 and mostly instrumental. Grungier guitars and bass. An over-laid power pop guitar. Normal band would have jammed on this for 10+ minutes....not Guided by Voices. This is a fantastic album. 28 songs in 41 minutes. The songs can be a thought, purposely cut short not completing a thought or just the right length. You rarely run into that category but I don't care...the melodies and hooks abound. For every OK song, there's two more right behind it that are great. I can't say I've heard all 40 Guided by Voices' albums but enough to call this one my favorite and their best. This is an album that everyone will find at least one or maybe 28 songs that they like. And play it loud!
A perfect set of mini songs that each pack a punch of their own. Such a unique and entertaining album!
Alien indeed. Perfect as a backdrop to Cult of the Lamb.
I am so glad GBV is on here. Great example of lo-fi. Songs can be very catchy and simple. Love this.
Thank you 1001 list for including this low-fi classic! I've been wanting to listen to GBV for a while now. This album delivers. Listening to Alien Lanes is like listening to a songwriting course. Some pieces are complete, and some aren't, but that's OK. Liked Songs Added: - Watch Me Jumpstart - As We Go Up, We Go Down - Game Of Pricks - A Good Flying Bird - Pimple Zoo - Closer You Are - Motor Away
One of my faves. Every listen a new song clicks. This time strawdogs. Power pop masterpiece.
I was ready to dismiss this out of hand but stopped. It's like coming across an early demo tape by the Beatles or Pink Floyd it's so hit and miss it's.........quite confusing. So many ideas and none of them fully realised this could be 5 albums by other bands. I've discovered a new band.
Fascinating record, love the format of these very short, but still catchy and impactful songs. Random but flows really well
Huh…turns out I really like Guided by Voices.
I'm a sucker for lo-fi
The crown jewel of their best stretch of making music.
One of my all-time favorites
Sure, I'll drink 3 beers at 10am to "Alien Lanes"
I laughed when this showed up as this is such me album, and as much as I love it, boy do I get why people might not. This thing is a beautiful mess, and I wouldn't have it any other way. It reminds me a lot of The White Album in that not every song is great or even meant to be great, but the whole thing works so well thanks to the sequencing. I love how goofy it all is and its lo-fi production, but I'm also amazed at how many instantly catchy melodies Pollard is able to conjure up. Even in the songs that start out as complete nonsense, he somehow finds a way to make them sing. And best of all, nothing overstays its welcome. One complaint: i don't love the use of "the other f-word" on here, but other than that, this is my jam. I was grinning like an idiot all morning. Bee Thousand is also amazing, but their other albums never did much for me.
Nice album. Shorter songs lend itself to a shorter album but in this case, even with the limited time, there was variety and cohesiveness. Also it was very 90s - that's a good thing to me haha
This was an excellent lo-fi album. The melodies were memorable and the instrumentation fit them perfectly. The ability to bounce between dynamics and textures gave the album a suite-like feel that never felt forced. The most striking thing is just how much I heard the Beatles in this album from the melodies themselves to the way the vocal harmonies sounded.
nigger
My favorite kind of album that’s an adventure from start to finish. I love GBV because they more than any other group prove that songwriting is king. They pumped this shit into a hand held tape recorder and it still shines through perfectly. Bee Thousand is still my favorite though.
Definitely lo-fi and even somewhat abrasive sound. I feel like Guided by Voices sounds like 50 other bands that I like, and I'm a sucker for lo-fi rock records. There is something charming about it. It's all at once familiar but unique, I feel like like this was a blueprint for the entire Elephant 6 collective.
I expected Bee Thousand instead of Alien Lanes, but always slightly preferred Alien Lanes, for me their best (and most consistent) album: great sound, great songs from both Robbert Pollard and Tobin Sprout (but I only know 10 albums or so from the period up to Do The Collapse and not the hundreds of albums they made afterwards). I like the length of the songs, probably the album would be less interesting / listenable if the production was not so lo-fi or if the songs were proper songs instead of short sketches. Out of the 28 songs, I would only skip the annoying 1-minute song Ex-SuperModel scote: 9/10
This is pure magic, what a melodic richness. The crappy production and the shortness of the songs only seem to add to the miracle.
Low-fi, indie brilliance
A diamond in the rough is the best way to describe this album. Hidden beneath the low quality recording style are very meticulously written catchy pop and indie rock songs. Each song is unique and has its own identity on top of that. Fave songs: As we go up we go down, Game of Pricks
As anal probes go, aliens do it the best. They get right in there and penetrate to the point of bleeding. If I wasn't so turned on, I'd be furious. More, please.
Pop… Wunderbar!
Very good album! For some reason I really enjoy that it does sound like it’s coming through on a shitty speaker! Love As We Go Up, We Go Down, Game of Pricks, Motor Away and heard some really good ones for the first time, greatly enjoyed this album and glad I finally gave it a full listen!
I love eclectic albums like these; a ton of short songs in a normal amount of time. These songs are great and offer a variety of material thrown at you quickly.
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
4.5 - end of the album kinda dragged a bit for me
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 ;)
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!
Bangers
The best lo-fi album ever made. Great songs that are often too short and merely sketches of something even greater.
VG
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!
** 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. :)
Disarm the settlers The new drunk drivers Have hoisted the flag We are with you in your anger - A salty salute
Very weird
me gustó mucho, breve, punk
Enjoyed this and completely new to me
noiccceeeeeeeeeeeeee
one of the more relatively well known albums by the residents is Commercial Album, a record of exactly one minute snippets that proport to represent more or less all the unique musical information in the average pop song, which is then looped three times to create the standard three minute pop song length. this whole description is more of a joke than something that actually represents the contents of the album, but it might apply unironically to robert pollard's endless stream of songs that he writes on every lunch break. im not nearly familiar enough with the nuances of GbV to pick out what makes some tracks feel more like Fragments and some more like Microsongs but pollard rly does make sure to throw in melodic and harmonic twists p much every time...one chord is just a chord, but two chords is a song, ect ect. just a rly nice little buffet that forces u to appreciate the taste of the tunes in a very immediate way since they'll be gone as soon as theyre here...definitely a Band That Could Be Your Life
There are so many melodies and ideas here. Love the low-fi. Cool album.
Les rois du lo-fi. Y'a une coupe de tounes un peu ordinaires et du matériel 5 étoiles. Je pense que Bee Thousand est supérieur. 3.75 étoiles
8/10
Lo fi done right. This does sound like it was just recorded in some guy’s basement, but the songs are fairly catchy and use their limited sound well
I only knew Game of Pricks before, which is on a couple of my playlists. I really like their sound. Impressive that they just recorded it at home on a 4 track for $10!!!
Yep, that's a 90s indie band. It's pretty good but it's no Teenage Fanclub (which is what came on when it was over). 3.5
Very interesting record - short and concise songs, very Beatlesque at times.
Just a whirlwind of catchy tracks which sound like they were recorded in a shed. A poorly constructed shed, too. Good fun.
Alien Lanes is not Guided by Voices' best album - that's Bee Thousand - but it is a worthy follow-up, another set of short and punchy mixes of pop bliss and rock riffs. This album tries a ton of things, and true to form for the band, they don't all work. But the misses are short enough that by the time they start to drag, it's onto something new. And for every slow and pointless "The Ugly Vision" there's a propulsive "Motor Away" or a triumphant "Blimps Go 90." There's also "Game of Pricks," one of the best and hookiest rock songs ever. The rough production only adds to the charm, and the album mostly gets better as it goes on and finds its groove. An essential 90s indie rock album.
Love these guys. Not super familiar with this album but it’s excellent
Kinda feels like listening to The Who Sell Out on the AM wave... but this is a light 4.
Not bad at all. Nothing to overly write home about, but a bit of a John Darnielle vibe going on and I very much like that sort of thing. I'd listen again certainly.
Inspiraron a The Strokes, y se nota Que buen álbum, sumamente indie, sumamente original, sin presiones creativas diría yo y se disfruta muy bien 28 canciones en un espacio de 50 minutos masomenos, no se dimensiona lo bien que se puede pasar con un álbum como este No se ocupa de mucho tiempo para hacer una canción memorable y disfrutable, acá se demuestra Muchas que recomendar, otras que son graciosas, otras no son muy memorables pero está bien Recomendado y para espíritus indie y alternativos, pienso que quizás esta es una gran base para entender de donde nace el movimiento
Long live lo-fi
As another user here said, the albums sounds kind of unfinished. I enjoy it for what it is, but there is this feeling that it could have been more, were it not recorded for 10 dollars and a bunch of pints. Still, I can enjoy just having a collection of cool sketches and doodles that don't fill up the conventional length of a song. Makes for a different but worthwile listen.
GbV is always a welcome surprise on this list
Never heard of them before but hugely liked this! Liked how all of the songs are so short but still cover such a range of genres. Will check out more!
oh Brother 🙄. certified "one of you guys will be Annoying" moment. a profoundly double virgo-an data dump of an album. good thing i like double virgo. great thing these guys can sequence. bad thing they have musical commitment issues. iffy thing on the "production value don't matter" (would've been fine if he remembered to turn down the vocal track on "always crush me") front. 4-4.3. i'm gonna go listen to "no smoking in the hallway" now.
Guided By Voices has 43 albums as of time of writing this review, and this is their sole representation on the list. With how short the songs are and how many of them are on an album, it reminds me of Minutemen and other punk music. GBV aren't really punks, more of the indie DIY stuff mixed with a lot of beer drinking. I'll give them their due props of recording at home rather than rack up a bunch of superfluous studio fees that get most bands with record labels start their debt clocks. They did have Bob Ludwig master and try his damned hardest to cut out the sloppiness, but that's part of the charm with Indie stuff. Unfortunately I don't like that lofi sound in production. Minutemen could get away with it because they went to tape and not cassette recordings, a difference in clarity that is night and day. The songs itself are mostly good. Some are pretty bad but everything is super short so it only disrupts the flow a little. I'd say a low floor with a medium to high ceiling. Is Alien Lanes a bad album? Not at all, but as someone that is biased against lofi production it's not something I want to relisten to anytime soon. But as someone that puts all the music they ever like on a bigass shuffle playlist, I don't mind some of those songs popping up again. Now they have 42 other albums to go through and maybe I'll do that some other time.
My initial listen didn't do much for me. I gave it another shot, not sure exactly why, but I'm glad I did. The second listen gave me a much better impression. There might be something here...
GBV is a great band that I should get more familiar with. About this record, I'd normally be inclined to say something like, "I'd like to listen to this more. I'm adding it to my collection." But who am I kidding? I'm not adding any NEW albums to "my collection" right now. I've got 1,001 albums to listen to over the next two and a half years. I ain't got time for additional listens. I'm barely keeping up as it is. And when this is done, I'm not gonna remember any of the albums I thought I'd want to revisit.
Four great songs by my tally: As We Go Up, Game of Pricks, Motor Away, and Alright. The rest ranges from pretty listenable filler -- the guitars are always great -- to a few that are kind of annoying.
4/5 - It's like you're scanning radio stations and every station has a GBV song. That's a good thing. So many songs, but Game of Pricks, Motor Away, and My Valuable Hunting Knife have been long-time favorites.
vignette after vignette of abrasive power pop goodness. the 28 individual tracks that form Alien Lanes don't usually last long enough to stick in your mind, but the cumulative effect they have is memorable nonetheless. it's as if every song has been stripped down to its barest essentials. the production quality, which frequently brings the music into noise and psych realms, evokes 60s rock n' roll by way of 90s underground DIYism. there's something truly old-school about the whole thing, but it's far from an exercise in retro-fetishism. light 8/10.
No private session used for Spotify. This album feels like one of those records where the band either disbands or someone in the band dies so they rummage through the recording studio to find a bunch of demos of songs, cobble those together and release it for a cash grab or to satisfy a contract with a record label. Would be interesting to hear a more polished version of these tracks, file GBV as artists who sabotage themselves. After crapping on the quality of the recording and the intentions of the band, I have to say I like this and next time I am doing work in the garage, with the garage door open of course, I will put this on.
This is interesting. I have a soft spot for music with a "homemade" sort of feel, and this ticks that box. The songs being so short makes the album feel pretty diverse and fast paced, and the sound is grungy (but not grunge) and DIY. It's a fun listen for me. Maybe not for everyone, but for me.
This was fun and unique.
This album was pretty good I had never heard of this group
Guided by indie masters into the great unknown.
INDIE ROCK
Glad to have heard this. A lot of music gets labelled ‘indie’ but this is the real thing. Reminds me of the English band The Bevis Frond. Under the radar but interesting and cool sounds.
I loved it. It stood up to the hype.
I weird one, but kind of good, like a great listen, mostly with how short the songs are
I've never heard anything quite like this. Some Lemonheads albums maybe had a slightly similar feel. Most of these tiny songs have more creativity and energy in them than 75% of the stuff on this list. It's quite something.
Wild! I really liked this, it´s all over the place, short bursts of energy, awesome.
Wel tof! Heel korte liedjes wel
I love the energy and the cover art, but a lot of these songs sound... unfinished. They end so abruptly. 3.5/5
I really enjoyed this. Built like a punk album. Not really anything bad per se. 3.5 rounding up.
Would be a 5 star if it wasn't for the ridiculous amount of weird shorts
Pretty good! Most of this really worked for me! Enough to where I’m thinking of getting in deeper.
me gustó. guardé algunas y ya había escuchado otra.
This is weird, but in a really fun way!
There’s a lot to like about Guided By Voices, and it’s not just because it’s the biggest band to come out of my hometown. But there’s a few things that personally frustrate me: (1) The whole lo-fi thing just grates. I care about good production and great-sounding albums too much. I get it, I see why it’s their thing, but I just would love them more if the albums were more slickly produced. It’s probably why one of my favorite albums of theirs is the one produced by Ric Ocasek. (2) A lot of Guided By Voices songs just feel like remnants or parts of great songs, or the seeds of what might become great songs. Not that these remnants aren’t pretty great themselves — and Robert Pollard’s ability to write hooks and melodies is astonishing — but it all just seems to get dumped out and thrown away, one lick at a time. A lot of their songs just end up being ephemeral to me. I would love Guided By Voices far more if the songs were constructed into more fully realized songs. (3) The sheer number of Guided By Voices albums is overwhelming. I know that seems odd to complain about an artist releasing too much work, but…Who can possibly keep up? 3.5 stars
Now THIS is INDIE Low fi af. Normies gtfo. 4/5
This was intriguing, kinda sounds like if you put The Beatles, Pavement and Minutemen in a blender and then they created a record with lo-fi production. There's a lot of catchy songs here. Not sure I can give it 5 as it's more like a bunch of appetisers than a delicious main course. Fun though
WOW
Very interesting concept, roughly 1 min songs, some just 15 seconds snippets. Feels like something I could write an essay about but sadly I don't have that time in my life.
Rock. One thing I really liked about this album was all of the short songs. It allowed them to mix it up a lot and if you didn’t care for a song, it’d be over in a minute.
I’m a sucker for this type of 90s lofi slacker rock and am very pleased GBV made it into the list
Album difficile à noter. J’ai longuement hésité entre 3 et 5. Je mets 4 finalement car l’album est pour le moins original même si non abouti. Il s’écoute très bien et les morceaux très courts s’enchaînent très bien. Mais on reste sur sa faim avec des morceaux clairement inégaux.
Rating: 8/10 Guided By Voices really is Beatles worship if it were raw and lo-fi 90's Midwestern slacker shit. They pack 28 tracks into 41 minutes that move along chaotically and the results are mostly great. Lot of cool tracks here, but the longer ones turn out to be the most effective, like Motor Away and My Valuable Hunting Knife. The only tracks I really don't like are Hit and Gold Hit they kinda suck. This band is right up my alley so of course I like this. 2.75 average on this site is a bit of a joke, but I can tell the community here does not like noise and lo-fi production.
I may very well be speaking too soon, but I think I’m going to enjoy this. A Salty Salute was a really intriguing intro track, and the fact that there is less than two minutes per track is interesting to me. Evil speakers had a good groove to it and leading in to Watch Me Jumpstart was a good transition. I’m liking the vocals. They’re imperfect, but work well with the album. I like the grungy guitar. They’re not witches had some really great lyrics, and as we go up… was a very fun track! Dumbchanger had a more somber tone, but it was welcome! Then to go in to the upbeat Game of Pricks was great. The ugly vision was so melodic. The guitar flowed really nicely and scratched an itch in my brain. I wasn’t a huge fan of Good Flying Bird, but it was over quickly. Cigarette Tricks, Pimple Zoo, Big Chief, were all nice short ideas. Closer you are had some great ideas and I almost wish it went on longer. I see what they were going for with auditorium, but it hurt my brain. Motor away, decent, Hit, well, it is certainly a track. My Valuable Hunting Knife: some good guitar, and I liked the percussion. Gold Hick was another intermission esq track that I didn’t have too many thoughts about. King and Caroline was again a decent track with good ideas that I wish was slightly more fleshed out. Striped white jets was awesome!! Just wish again it was longer. Ex supermodel was amazingly melancholy! Blimps go 90 was a nice switch up of instrumentation. Chicken Blows was strange and Little Whirl was aptly named. My son Cool was good and Alright was an awesome closer. Loved it. This is a hard one to rate for me as I loved a lot of the ideas, but that’s just what they are, ideas. There are very few fleshed out full tracks on this album. 4/5 ⭐️, for what it was. 66/1089
Wish the tracks were longer, feels more like sketch book then a album but good all the same ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Surprisingly amamzing album short songs all different and continuous. Really good pace did not expect this at all. Very good album
This was actually really cool. I want to try and recreate the vocal tone for some of my own stuff.
פשוט מלא שטויות. אני מת על מוזיקת שטויות
Amazing lyrics. Amazing vibe. Going to listen again to appreciate it more, felt repetitive at times but more listens could give me another perspective.
Don’t know if they were purposefully trying something unique here or if they just couldn’t write a song over 1.5 minutes but I thought it was pretty fun. 4 stars
I liked this album and I know the form is part of what makes it notable, but ultimately the short songs and Lofi production left me wanting more
Lots of short songs with a lot of energy. Going to have to dig into this "band"
the first draft of a bunch of really good songs it feels like
probably best album so far
8/10
For anyone who enjoys lo-fi indie rock with a raw, sloppy, and unpolished sound, this album will hit the spot. It’s similar to Pavement, but much more stripped down, with a rough, basement recorded feel. At 40 minutes long with 28 tracks, everything is short, punchy, and straight to the point. The whole album feels like a collage of fragmented sketches stitched together, and it carries a playful, nostalgic vibe that really takes you back to the 90s.
Surprised by how varied this was. Also didn’t realize I’d heard some of this band before.
Hver gang jeg leser "Guided by Voices," tenker jeg det er et synthpop-band fra 80-tallet. Jeg har for lengst funnet ut av at det ikke er det, men informasjonen sitter ikke, så jeg blir usikker hver gang de dukker opp: er dette det bandet jeg tror er et synthpop-band fra 80-tallet men som faktisk ikke er det? Og de er jo det. Jeg tror også jeg har hørt Bee Thousand før, uten at jeg kan si noe om hvordan den skiva var. Men nå hører jeg altså på Alien Lanes, som jeg definitivt aldri har hørt før, og som kom rett etter Bee Thousand. Skiva har 28 låter, men er vanlig LP-lengde. Er dette punk? Grindcore? Det er jo litt punka, men definitivt ikke punk. Det er nok slacker rock, ja. Det er kult, men jeg får inntrykk av at de kanskje burde satt seg ned å skrive 10 låter i stedet, så hadde jeg kanskje husket noen av dem etter det var over. Men det er kanskje ikke poenget. Det skal være litt slapt: et blankt canvas som skal fylles med improvisert lo-fi gitar. Rundt Game of Pricks begynner jeg å bli overbevist om at dette også er en effektiv måte å lage indie rock på. Og de har jo noen Låter innimellom, deriblant Motor Away. Det er en spontan og kreativ tilnærming til låt- og albumskriving som skyr perfeksjon & konvensjonelle smaksdommer uten å ta en U-sving inn i Plink Plonk Land; å experimentere fritt og se hva som sitter. Hvis man ikke vet hvordan en låt skal avsluttes, bare fader vi den ut. Det er ikke helt Double Nickels on the Time levler av briljans — D. Boon er sterkere på riff & låtskriving — men Guided By Voices fokuserer mer på texturer enn Minutemen. Akkurat som Double Nickels, regner jeg med at dette er en skive som belønner gjentatte lytt; potensielt et White Album-type album i single LP-format, noe som gjør at det egentlig ikke kvalifiserer, fordi med kun 40 minutter spilletid, er det bare haters som vil beskylde skiva for å være for lang.
Jeg trodde også lenge at Guided By Voices var en synthgruppe fra 80-tallet, men jeg trodde det frem til i dag. Jeg trodde også at Alien Lanes bare hadde masse bonusspor, helt til jeg så at det var vanlig lengde på plata. Plata minner meg litt om 69 Love Songs, og er en øvelse i effektiv låtskriving. Det funker overraskende ofte, men det er de låtene som er lenger som treffer meg best. "Game of Pricks" er helt fantastisk og jeg måtte spille den flere ganger før jeg gikk videre. "Motor Away" og "Blimps Go 90" er også høydepunkter. Det høye antallet låter føles ikke stressende, men en del av de mer eksperimentelle låtene bikker nesten over i novelty (særlig "Ex-Supermodel" og "Gold Hick". Selv om plata kun er 40 min ish, så føles det som den kunne vært strammet opp litt. At de bedre låtene hadde fått noen ekstra sekunder og kutta noe novelty fra plata. Det blir litt som skits. Og jeg elsker jo skranglete plater, men mot slutten høres det litt for øvingslokale ut. Men alt i alt en veldig fornøyelig plate fra et band som jeg vil høre mer av.
8.5/10
Yeah I like it. Got some fun tunes
Super quirky, but I liked it. All of the songs are super short and the styles are all over the place. Some songs almost gave me a Beatles feel to them, while others had an early punk feel. I enjoyed this one!
Alien Lanes feels like rifling through someone’s notebook full of half-finished ideas and discovering that most of them are brilliant. It is scrappy, messy, and defiantly unpolished, but that roughness is exactly what gives it its charm. Songs appear, explode with melody or attitude, and vanish before they have time to wear out their welcome, creating a constant sense of momentum and surprise. What I love about it is how effortlessly it throws out hooks without making a big deal of them. There is no polish, no grand statement, just sharp pop instincts buried under lo-fi noise and sudden shifts. The album feels playful and restless, always moving forward, and even when a track barely lasts a minute, it often leaves a stronger impression than far longer, more carefully constructed songs elsewhere.
I love how Guided By Voices albums go from sounding like they recorded a song through an intercom, to the next track being one with full studio production. Just get the song down, no matter the cost! I really like this album, but band regularly covers Game Of Pricks. America’s answer to The Fall.
i really liked this album. it’s a really good garage, psychedelic rock album. perfect chill music. pretty long album in terms of number of tracks, but some of them are only like 30 sec long. overall enjoyed a lot and was much needed familiarity after getting a series of albums that aren’t my typical sound rating: 8/10 favorite track: a good flying bird
Fun album, tickles the right spots for me - garage/slacker rock, reminiscent of Dinosaur Jr or Pavement or maybe early Ween. For sure messy in places and plenty of forgettable tracks, but when the filler is short, it doesnt really matter that much. 3.6/5
Really nice
I enjoyed listening to that, though there was a lot or random, less than a minute songs.
I'm fond of indie rock, but none of the songs stuck with me. I did enjoy the 90s nostalgia.
Awesome! Wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did! Reminds me of a little grungier Neutral Milk Hotel. Will definitely check out more from them!
Independientes alternativos hiperactivos... casi 50 discos a sus espaldas y lo que queda. El lo-fi son ellos. Rechaze imitaciones. Robert Pollard y Tobin Sprout son geniales, únicos e inimitables. Con influencias de Beach Boys (los de finales de los 60´s), REM (esa voz de Pollard), los 60´s de los Who y Small faces, el do it yourself punk, Orange Juice, Beat Happening, Half Japanese... Este fue disco más aclamado aunque el anterior ( Bee Thousand) y el posterior (Under the bushes, under the stars) fueron igual de excelsos. Uno siempre esperaba que cuando cuidaran un poco más su producción entregaran un álbum que por fin la rompiera pero eso era imposible (Mag earwhig! con Albini, Do the collapse con Ocasek...) porque se perdía la magia, a pesar de tener momentos muy muy buenos. Luego ya les perdí un poco la pista porque era imposible seguir su ritmo. Este Alien Lanes presenta apenas esbozos de canciones en algunos casos , la mayoría. ¿Qué es A Good Flying Bird? ¿Auditorium, una demo que ni siquiera llega a esbozo de algo? y ¿My Valuable Hunting Knife? En otros verdaderos himnos como Motor away o Game or Pricks, Little whirl es juguetona como As We Go Up, We Go Down. Chicken Blows es una genial marcianada... Su influencia es enorme: Beck, Yo la tengo, Sebadoh, Pavement, Los Planetas, Automatics, Strokes, White Stripes... Un experiencia imprescindible.
181125 11:57 4
Nice, nerdy and quirky.
7.2
there are such good parts on here but it feels forgettable... i will have to listen ten or eleven more times
𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 sounds gloriously cheap — and that’s exactly its charm. Recorded for the price of a pizza, it’s a lo-fi masterpiece that embraces tape hiss, rough edges, and sudden song fragments as part of its identity. Guided by Voices feel like the ultimate DIY band, the kind you’d imagine uploading to Bandcamp and curating their own RYM profile if the internet had existed in 1995. Beneath the noise, though, are sharp hooks and genuine songwriting brilliance — proof that great ideas don’t need great budgets.
Liked a lot of the songs, but there are so many that it's hard to rememeber any in particular. Stand outs were As We Go Up We Go Down, Game of Pricks, Salty Salute, Auditorium, My Valuable Hunting Knife.
Not as beautifully messy as the previous Bee Thousand. At times it is quite wonderful full of the snippets of brilliance but it feels a bit empty towards the end and seems indulgent despite the brevity of those songs. End 3/4s of the way through and you have enough to be a great album.
Like it. Will listen again
I really liked this one. Shades of Green Day, British rock
Pretty trippy
This was actually a pretty interesting album. Feel like this would be a good one to go learn more about because there was a lot I liked but it just felt kinda unfinished for some reason. Maybe it was all the super short track which I’m sure Vardaan is gonna love
Pollard has written more songs than some people send texts in their lifetime!
Ramshackle and ineptly recorded - a borderline mess. Curious mixing decisions and parts that sound like first takes played on instruments that are often out of tune. The only consistent thing about it is the complete lack of polish or finesse. That and the obvious ear for melody. Stupendous, loved it
Cool songs, hard to find the full album
This album’s just plain fun. You can hear bits of everything, early 80's, punk, British invasion esp Kinks but it never feels copied. Sounds like no one but Guided by Voices: messy, catchy, and totally their own thing. Only issues is not all songs work, so not a perfect album.
I really enjoyed this album. I haven't listened to enough GBV.
I don’t really find their sound generally enjoyable but they get credit for creativity and sonic experimentation with some moments of genuine brilliance.
Despite feeling unfinished as an album, I thoroughly enjoyed this album. Vocals are reminiscent of Beatles and early garage band rhythms. Would love to hear this polished up.
Didn't know what to expect from this, left pleasantly surprised in a good way. Just the essence of good catchy songs, sure influenced by the beatles. Turns out I like lo-fi, which doesn't surprised me too much, give me 28 songs in 40 minutes if there is the multitude of ideas, as on show here. Don’t hold with the demo idea these are fully formed 2 to 3 minute escapes. 4 Star
Very cool post punk album! Some of the shortest songs I've ever seen on a record, a lot of them being 30 seconds - 2 minutes. Shimmering guitars, grunge vocals, blown out production. Passionate!
Went into this one completely blind, and I think that was the way to go. This album is kind of a lot. I could see several ways in which this album could turn people off, the biggest being its song length. The whole album is filled with songs that rarely make it past 2 minutes. But as a massive Ween fan, this album felt very brown. It felt like they just sort of threw everything they had at the wall and just kept going and worried about what stuck later. But that’s not a negative, I wish more albums were this bold and risky. There’s a couple songs that are less than a minute but they are so creative and inspired that they feel more quality than most songs that are 3 mins long. Honestly the album was very pleasantly surprising. The best analogy for this album is that it’s very similar to sketch comedy, they can’t ALL be winners. Just by the nature of the medium it’s always gunna be hit and miss, but I will say these are mostly “hits” (figuratively). Seriously though this album is pretty fun and has good energy in it.
Used to listen to this one quite a bit back in high school but it eventually fell through the cracks, well due for a revisit. I think I like it even more than I did back in the day. What a great record.
I really love these guys lol. I’ve only listened to this and Bee Thousand, which I preferred, but this is still fun too. I’m a little annoyed by the fade-outs sometimes. Some of these song fragments are unnecessary. Still, I love an artist who just throws everything at the wall. Must-listen #219.
Some of the melodies on this are absolutely insane but I just can't deal with 20 2-minute songs
Partnered with Bee thousand, perhaps the quintessential lofi record of the 90’s, and filled with ideas, and some songs too. Motor Away is one of their very best.
This definitely tries to be something. Very varied, disjointed, and still works together. Feels like it could be a slowburn album to come back to and like increasingly more.
First time ever listening to a full GBV album. Which is wild, since they are chronologically and sonically right in my wheelhouse. I absolutely get the hype.
A sign of its time. It comes and goes, doesn’t take much of your time.
OK vibes, 7/10
Really good album, although I feel like they could have left out some tracks and made others longer.
This is probably the perfect album for anyone with ADHD - 28 songs, 41 minutes. For me, it was kind of hard to find anything that really stood out, but I really liked the overall vibe. I definitely haven't spent enough time listening to Guided by Voices in my lifetime!
I'm not sure why but I really enjoyed this.
Hyviä lyhyitä suupaloja! 4/5
This was A Salty Salute to the Strawdogs. When you listen to this it will Motor Away your mind to the Pimple Zoo.
28 snippets of great melodic rock songs. i understand not liking this, but there's a clear songwriting skill here presented in a pure raw form. never boring. love it.
I liked this. 28 very short good songs.
I love R.E.M. and the Flaming Lips so GBV should be right up my strasse, but with a discography like theirs it's hard to know where to possibly begin. I've heard the song As We Go Up, We Go Down before but this was the first time I've ever listened to a full album. I really enjoyed it, sure it's lo-fi and chaotic and some songs are too short but I'll be checking out more of their stuff.
I’ve always loved this period of GBV albums (familiarity seems to definitely impact my ratings - although it can also breed contempt haha), but the best one is Bee Thousand. That should be on the list and sadly is not.
BANGER!
Ziemlich zurück gebeamt in meine Jugend!
One of those albums that I'm sure would be my favourite if I grew up with it. Really enjoy the quick hits; in and our before a song gets stale. I had listened to Bee Thousand a few times before but this one was never on my radar. Really need to spend more time with GBV.
Ces dernières années j'essaye de découvrir un peu plus Guided By Voices mais je trouve qu'il manque toujours de quoi si je compare à d'autres groupes du genre que j'écoute souvent genre Pavement, Sebadoh ou même Hüsker Dü ou The Replacements.
4/5
think I would really like this record and band, need to give it a few more listens. A 3.5, but leaning towards a 4
I like indie rock
I quite liked this.
Me gusto bastante, no los conocía y el estilo me llamó la atención, a veces cortito y enquilombado, pero bueno en fin
A garage rock staple.
Fantastic. Short, strong, hooky, alternative rock tracks that sound great! 28 songs in 41 minutes, and I want more. I had not heard of them prior to the list, and if you haven't either, be prepared to go on a tour of great tracks. I'm tempted to think that they end the songs so quickly based on showmanship. However, they sound solid and could go on with acclaim.
I appreciate this record and this band a lot. Pollard is such an incredibly prolific songwriter. The lo-fi production I could do without though it is a cool vibe.
Not much to say frome on this one. I thought it was good
this was really good, at the start it opened with this killer bass, and the echo on the vocals were both awesome. its some really good indie rock, and i think if i got more acquainted with it (im gonna have to, its 30 songs) it could be my album of the year for '95. A lot of the transitions between songs are really smooth, it reminds me of since i left you in that way. It is really good, it reminds me a lot of surf curse, i should really check out a full album of theirs at some point. A lot of these songs are incredibly short (1-2 minutes), and god dammit! ive already made that exact blid joke about love at the bottom of the sea bro. This album does share a lot of genetics with love at the bottom of the sea, it has similar vocals, similar guitar. I think thats the only features ive been noticing which is odd given theres a drum on the cover.
I’m a huge Modest Mouse fan, and this reminded me of Sad Sappy Sucker in a lot of ways. It’s even comparable in tracks-to-runtime ratio (SSS has 24 in 31 minutes, Alien Lanes has 28 in 41.) The lo-fi production and raw energy is great! There are some incredible pieces here, and I’m glad GBV has become more than a band on my list of bands to eventually get to. All that said, it’s not an album I feel the need to go back to in full, but that could change.
I can sense that I'm supposed to like this a lot more than I currently do on first listen, and I already dig it well enough. Once I have my true GBV breakthrough, I will revisit. 3.5/5
In terms of using lo-fi as a creative effect, I think this is quite ahead of its time, even though I do think some of the effects are more destructive to the song, rather than making it better, but I think it generally works. There seems to be some kind of alternating more acoustic/more built up pattern at the start, but it seems to stop a when you get further in. There's kind of so much stuff going on, that its hard to say what musically qualities this has as a whole - just well-written songs, with interesting guitar tones, and mixes and timbres. Also a LOT of variety. Favourite songs: pretty much most of them. Overall around 8/10
Veldig rockmusikk anno 1995, det va fint, æ blei litt nostalgisk for en tidsperiode æ ikke va del av. Eller så fikk æ lyst til å se Empire Records, en av to.
Low production quality and some fun (if not simple) songs. I enjoyed this one. Something I really love about a 28 track album that's under an hour.
I'm so indie rock I rocked before indie rock was mainstream... Fun to listen, kind of Dinosaur Jr. except... later
Good stuff, nice album to just have on
I was unsure the first few songs but then as I kept going I found a few I really enjoyed and saved to my playlist! (Game of Pricks, Pimple Zoo, Chicken Blows) This album was a surprise, liked it way more than I thought I would!
I had never listened to anything by Guided by Voices, but the first time I’d heard of them was when I went to a live show in Tokyo with a cover band called “Voided by Geysers.” That’s what I think of whenever their name pops up. Anyway, they were pretty good, and so was this. It made me nostalgic for that time. This album has 28 bite-sized songs - I liked the idea at first, but sometimes it felt like they ended too soon. 3.5
Robert Pollard has to be the most prolific modern songwriter of our time. Not only has his band, Guided By Voices released at least 41 full length albums (...and still growing), as a solo artist add in another 22. The song output is so huge, it feels at times it's that " throw all the shit against the wall, and see what sticks" approach for what is actually recorded and released on record. Alien Lanes would probably be considered an "early" release, even though it was their eighth album already, it was their first on Merge records as the previous releases were smaller indie labels. The lo-fi sound is still prominent and the fact there are 28 songs packed into 41 minutes (most songs under 2 minutes), means a lot of the songs come across as sound samples or unfinished pieces. For some people that would be a negative, but the beauty of this record is that it doesn't stand still and the tracks don't get too stale and the shear audacity of Pollard to write so many brilliant pop songs is hard to rap your head around. Sometimes too much of anything can be too much, but sometimes it can all come together and produce something exceptional. Truthfully, GBV released only a handful of truly amazing records. I would place Alien Lanes in their top 3, at least and even if there is a lot of shit on here, there's still more great songs here than most albums today.
fín lög, hrátt. þó dálítið einsleitt en tilefni til meira.
I heard this album for the first time about a year ago, and I really quite like it. I like the half arsed, demo quality and its low-fi sound. I’m not really a GBV fan, but I enjoyed this offering
Love GBV
Some interesting production on this. I enjoy the short length of the tracks and abrupt transitions, short yet substantial, feels like a tapas meal.
Really enjoyed this. A great lofi (ish) indie record, somewhere between Flaming Lips and Pavement. Ive seen these live before but only really knew Hold on Hope which sounds nothing like this record (in a good way for this record). I love how it sounds like a record full of ideas and short songs that a group of pals are playing along too. Very raw in a nice way. 4.5
28 songs, 41 minutes, minutemen levels of song numbers. Guided by voices can clearly write the sort of songs I like but I think if theyd chosen the best 12, fleshed out a bit and increased the production quality a bit it would be a nailed on 5. As it was, the best songs were over too quickly and the lo fi production didn't do anything for me. They have other albums so hopefully we get one that clicks better. It was still really enjoyable mind. 3.5.
If you throw enough sinks at a kitchen, one of them will plumb itself in. Lots to like - the majority of the tracks sound immediate and have lots of dynamism. Doesn't stick around long enough to be boring. Motor Away, and A Salty Salute were good. I listened to Chicken Blows when I was half asleep on the plane and was hallucinating the windows wobbling.
This was interesting. Wasn't sold at first but as it went on I was getting more convinced. It isn't all great and the reviewer that described it as flipping through a radio in a dream is pretty accurate! But it's got that kinda rough around the edges indie sound. Felt a bit shinsy at times too, which I feel like I say a lot. Never knew what to expect next. 28 songs in 40 minutes is good going, although I don't really remember the tracks feeling short. I'm sure there was one that sounded like it had snoring in the background. I might give this another go but I'm going to say 3.5
Really liked this. Clearly some of the songs were incomplete, or were demos for future songs.. but as a relatively shorter album with so many tracks, it showed several different sides of the band. Also cool to see they were from Dayton, OH as that’s where I live. Going 4/5 but may raise if I revisit this/their wider catalog
3.5/5
7/10
Ca révolutionne pas l'histoire de la musique mais ça s'écoute très bien.
This is a very interesting album. A high volume of short songs means lots of room for expression and experimentation. There are a few songs that flop, but otherwise this feels like a really strong example of the music of the 90's.
Completely understand people being put off by the lo-fi nature of this. But there's something addictive and cathartic that just connects. Game of Pricks is one of the all time greatest pop songs too.
considering my comment in yesterday's review: oh. this is where. ok. Very funny coincidence - not only is this influential underground rock, it's made of fragments that were in many cases used by other bands to build songs. Easy to imagine hearing these on college radio and going hell yeah!!! & gettin real excited. Lots of great hooks to steal if you're writing a song in need of a hook. music: appreciated. (⌐■_■)
Do I think this is better than most albums on this list? No. Does it pale compared to more polished albums? Probably. But I like it, because I've always had a love for unpolished, demo-sounding albums. I like the Mountain Goats, of Montreal, Car Seat Headrest, and this feels like the same tradition. Not objectively up there, but subjectively it is
3.5 stars. Rocking and fast and fun indie rock. 28 short tracks squeezed into standard length record. Obnoxious snoring layered over noisy "Ex-Supermodel" was only song I'd skip in future. Standout is leadoff "Salty Salute".
Better than I thought it would be. There is definitely the air of a demo tape about the album and I would have preferred if the songs were more fleshed out, but I did enjoy the lo-fi production and think this album will grow on me the more I listen to it.
Yeah, sure it's uneven, but it's right up my street. Love it.
"As we go up, we go down" was a song I heard once and loved... and never found again until now! Was not familiar at all with this band, but I really dig the absolute 90s of it all.
Rough, ready and raffish. Wonderfully gritty and smart garage rock for the modern age – one hears direct links from the Minutemen (and Husker Du) then this bunch then Giant Sand, say, or Slint or Car Seat Headrest more recently. One wishes they’d stayed with a few of the more promising melodies a bit longer perhaps, been a little grander in an arena rock sense, but the blizzard of engaging short tracks is, on the whole, a delight. One does not at all get Pitchfork's likening to prog rock; maybe the reference is to the indulgence on the track with snoring or the willful sort of obsscurantism here (like it wouldn't have been too difficult to make this a good bit easier to listen to. But they are low-fi legends nonetheless.
Wow, what a quirky album. Love the fuzzy lo-fi simple recording style. The songs are over so quick that you’re just starting to enjoy a melody or a mood, and bang, it’s done and they’ve veered off in another direction. I hear a lot of influences…noticeably The Beatles but on other tracks there’s a dollop of New Order/Joy Division and then Dinosaur Jr. It works for me!
Not too shabby for 90s indie punk-rock 🤘
Descent.
First listen to these guys, nice album.
Not one of my favorite GBV albums, but I do still have a soft spot for GBV. No song outlasts it's welcome (28 songs in 40 minutes). It's catchy. It influenced punk in odd ways. I'm here for it.
I’ve listened to Bee Thousand a few times in my life and it never really fully clicked with me. This is my first time listening to alien lanes, and I really like it.
If only Bob had a filter more GBV albums would be like this.
Day325 - i don’t know how i’ve never heard this band before but it’s right up my alley
This was super cool. Love the short songs - not everything was good though, some songs were downright off-putting.
It sounded like the band got high and went in the garage with just a bunch of parts of songs and just hit record and you know what? It sounds good
Excellent. Can't believe I hadn't heard this
There are enough good short songs here for 4 stars and the weaker efforts are too short to hate. B-.
i kinda fell in love at first sight, it would be a five if the sound quality was better cause it was kinda painful at some point, and if there were fewer but longer songs
Pulls off a mix of lo-fi and noise that doesn't seem likely to succed but does. The longer songs are great and the shorter, experimental tracks make a fun work to be appreciated as a whole. A little short though, only totally a measly 28 songs. Favorite song: Blimps go 90
28 songs in 41 minutes? Impressive. Starts off not terribly, but what is that background noise? Not terrible at all. Not something I'd listen on a regular basis, but not offensive to my musical sensibilities. Ex-Supermodel - is someone snoring in this song? Ok, it's beginning to get mildly offensive. Still, not the worst bodily sound to include in the song. Wasn't terrible overall. 3.5/5, kinda want this site to have granular ratings (stars are just silly), but oh well.
i liked this, i thought it was a vibe, can’t complain
really good idk why the ratings for this are so low this website slacker rock is such a good genre. feel like more rock focused cindy lee album (particularly Diamond Jubilee, listen to that album its really good) really does feel like old rock radio station late at night as small child (so like early 2010s for me. if that makes you feel old its cuz you are)
Sin comentarios por ahora. No es ni malo ni bueno pero nada me llamó la atención.
super cool album. very much my aesthetic. love the lofi production and love the format - basically an album of little graces of power pop perfection. nothing stays longer than it has to, a lot of it goes before you want it to. super catchy. i'd heard of them before but never explored their music. i'm definitely returning to this one!
frustrating but peerless
Would have been 4.5 if I could. Amazing record that is one of my personal favourites, but falls just shy of a 5 because I didn’t fancy it twice in one day. I think a 5 should be an almost instant repeat maybe? Either way, great stuff and the best entry point to the band for sure Best track - Game of Pricks
First heard Game of Pricks on the IT Crowd and it altered my brain chemistry. It’s beyond impressive the prolific songwriting career that Robert Pollard has had.
Sounds like a mix-tape/demo-reel of 90s garage rock songs. I kinda dig it. The quick and rapid disjointedness of tracks was a little off-putting to me at first, but started to grow on me throughout the rest of the record. The artist doesn’t linger too long on a particular idea and gets his message out with a quick verse/chorus or two. Definitely lacks the structure and vision of what we’d hear in a traditional album, but some of these songs were pretty catchy for me, so I can’t complain. Solid collection of short-and-sweet songs. Favorite track: Game of Pricks
I love this kind of fragmented album where almost every song could have been a classic if the band didn't rush nervously through it. There's still some classics in there, but pay attention because they're going fast. Really fun and exciting to listen to.
Well this was fun. Likely the only cool thing to come out of Ohio aside from the Drew Carey Show and the Major League movie based on the Cleveland Indians. I love the fuzzy quick hitters they put out here, most of them were great poetry, great jangle rock. Robert Pollard is a drunken genius and I respect what he has done and appreciate his ability to insert humour into music. I don’t look at reviews before writing but I have a strong sense this is rated below 3, I hope I’m wrong but I just listened to that boring drivel Adele puts out and all those dumb fucks that gave that a 5 can lick my taint. 4 stars
They really shovel out the hits
Such fun songs, really inspiring songwriting! Love it all!
I’ve been needing to get more into them for decades.
I kind of like this ragtag noise. Not fully like it, but just a little. There are songs I like here, but the amount of tracks kind of takes away from it. Then again there’s a charm in the eclecticism.
I’m struggling to rate this one despite the fact that I overall quite liked it. But there were a handful of songs that were actually physically hard to listen to. Just noise and weird sounds and bad production. Listening to those was almost painful. But on the other hand, there were some absolutely brilliant songs. “As We Go Up, We Go Down,” “Game Of Pricks,” “My Valuable Hunting Knife,” “King And Caroline,” “Blimps Go 90,” and “Little Whirl” were spectacular, and I actually loved the brevity of most of the tracks and how some of them were like short poems being sung. Some questionable lyrics at times, but it was the 90s. Because of how much I really loved some of the songs, I’m giving this a higher rating, but a few of the tracks and the production really left something to be desired. Really had to sit with this one for awhile, but overall I think it’s a worthy inclusion to this list.
I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. Turns out I miss the polish. Some masterful songs, but just not something I want to sit through
So many albums on here have a really small amount of long songs. It’s nice to hear the other side of the coin. Overall I liked the lofi sound , and a few of the songs were catchy. I liked the idea a lot
Strange, lo-fi pop blasts. 28 songs (and song fragments) in 41 glorious minutes. Dive the fuck in.
evil speakers as we go up, we go down dumbcharger game of pricks closer you are motor away striped white jets my son cool
Well they certainly throw everything at this. I really enjoyed the meandering themes, and although there’s a LOT of songs on here they’re all well formed and make sense as part of the album. A great album to be pretentious to your friends about knowing.
3.5. Different listening experience. Found myself listening multiple times and once the short songs become familiar, it is fun to hear them come and go.
This is a fun interesting album, I'm was not familiar with Guided by Voices until this record. I am going to check them out for the other records.
So the first day I listened to this one I think I was in a bad mood and I really did NOT like it at all. In fact, I was annoyed while listening to it and almost turned it off. But I think I was getting annoyed with everything that day. I gave it another listen the next day and ended up really enjoying how eccentric and quirky it is.
New favorite
Oh how I wish this was recorded better :( But still a really fhn album with this many tracks and sitting at only 40 something minutes wow
I'll borrow this, a good comment: "Sounds like flipping through AM radio in a dream" This also applies to how it doesn't just grab me. But I do enjoy the nature of this, four stars, why not.
With 28 songs in 41 minutes, this felt like a lot of ideas for songs that never got very far. I quite liked it though
It’s giving lofi Beatles I fw it
GBV is something I listened to in high school as I fell down the rabbit hole of lo-fi, indie bands like Sebadoh and Pavement. I have a lot of nostalgia for the overall sound even when there is not one track that sticks out.
Not what I was expecting at all. This sounds like the best band at a house show. If it wasn't for the f-slur dropped in the 22-second "Hit" I might not have noticed the 90s of it all. A startling 28 tracks across 41 minutes, nothing overstays its welcome or over-explains itself. I'd go wild to this shoulder-to-shoulder in someone's garage. I wish I'd known about this album in high school. Highlights: A Salty Salute, They're Not Witches, As We Go Up We Go Down, Game of Pricks, A Good Flying Bird, Closer You Are, Motor Away, Blimps Go 90, My Son Cool
I went into this one expecting it to be shite Surprisingly I really enjoyed it! The songs are very choppy and almost seem unfinished. But the snippets of songs we get were very enjoyable! The random snoring also contributed to it losing a star 4 ⭐️
Surprising good, filled with a tons of little nuggets! Makes me rethink the normal album and song format!
Exzentrische Aneinanderreihung von teils kurzen Dongs (24 in 38 Minuten). Diese haben die alternative Rock-Attitüde wie Blur oder Greenday. Starke Gitarre/Bass dumpfes Schlagzeug und Keyboard und leicht schräge Vocals. Gegen Ende gewinnt das Album An Härte. Rockig ist “Watch me Jump Start”, charakteristisch sind “Game Of Pricks” oder “Closer You are” und mein Favorit ist “Blimps Go 90”.
Great album. I've been a GBV fan from afar but never dove into the albums too seriously. Although it take a second to get used to the shorter songs, it generally all comes together conceptually. Standout tracks were "A Salty Salute," "As We Go Up, We Go Down," "Game of Pricks," and "Motor Away." ****
Pollard has somehow put 28 songs into 41 minutes of album. How is that possible?, you may ask. Well, just imagine B-side Abbey Road for the indie crowd. These are pared down, isolationist insights, focused on themselves only. Enjoy the moment and wonder how you pay attention to each of those moments expecting them to turn into something more. They don't, but you keep listening.
I know this album isn't niche, as it is probably one of the more famous indie releases of the 90s, but this album could've only ever been heard by three people and a dog and I still think it would have this vagueness coating its outer layer that would drive away additional listeners. Once again, not saying this is hard to listen to for the common person either, as it is surprisingly listenable, catchy, and has a good driving tempo throughout that actually most reminds me of Nirvana's MTV appearance in its sound and structure. It is just so fast past that things fly by, and you realize three songs have been played for you, and you thought it was one. It actually makes me most surprised that the band isn't brought up more, because Guided By Voices' seemingly disdain for the three-minute pop/rock tune feels so very 90s anti-establishment in its own, melancholic way that I can't help but really dig it. Each song is fresh and unique, with my earlier confusion on the fusing of songs instead coming to realize the whole project is like one big song, with an overall theming that I can't quite pin down, but the feeling is just there. That is all to say, I love the low fidelity: the fuzzy guitars, the offbeat production, the unique lyrics, all of it. Sure, there are definitive "better" songs (there's a reason Game of Pricks ended up on the IT Crowd and not Cigarette Tricks) but there is never an obvious song to pick out and say "this was made to be the best," it just feels like an album jammed out in a couple of days, with the best of only being discovered in post, and that feels like the best way to make an album. It has some pacing issues, as it does feel like the idea becomes a little tired in the last ten minutes, and as I said, not every song is one you're going to be putting on over, and over, and over... but this whole thing is just extremely well-made, despite its coarse exterior, and I quite enjoyed my time with it.
Odd. Very odd. Lots of songs, most of them pretty short. Wear their influences on their sleeves, but would have benefitted from a producer & editor to streamline the running order and finish some of the shorter tracks. Good, but not great. I will look out for more of their stuff, but there is so much that I'm not sure where to start!
i'm pretty sure i've listened to this in full before but i can't remember because most of the songs kind of slide off your back like water off a duck. the ones that stick are some of my all time favs though.
Pleasantly surprised by this record. Great lo-fi indie reminiscent of British indie in its unpolished era, with hints of Neutral Milk Hotel (before the… unpleasantness….). Was a bit put off initially by the sheer number of tracks but the album never drags. Definitely one to revisit.
Oh hello lo-fi friend. Pleasure to cross paths again. I really miss the days of OG DIY album production. Nowadays, bedroom rock wins Grammys and has a very monotonous sound to it. It's somehow been packaged and sold as a genre. But in GBV's day, it was the wild west. I really love how quick and dirty this is. There's SO MUCH experimentation with sounds, guitars, drums, drum machines and just kickass kookiness here, it's hard not to love.
gen x alex g
Enjoyed this one and would give it another listen
Jumping back into the mid 90s with this album
Wow, I was REALLY ready to not like this. It started off too happy and bright, but it felt fresh and catchy. The more songs I heard the more unique and complex it became. Suddenly reminded me of The Mountain Goats and Jeff Mangham sounding songs (which I do like) so I'll listen to more of these guys. 4 stars!
Really enjoyed it. But since there were so many songs it was at some points not as great to ba a full 5star rated album.
super charming but each song fails to create its own identity. i think i just need to listen to it more but i love it already. 8/10
Hoy toca una banda fundamental para el indie, sobre todo desde su concepción base: proponer una producción independiente, pensada y llevada a cabo en su totalidad por las y los artistas con plena libertad. Sus sonidos sesentosos, psicodélicos, me recuerdan a bandas como Deerhunter. Siempre la música como vanguardia. Buen disco de una buena banda. Parece una frase falta de creatividad, pero muchas veces la escasez de recursos dice más, como las canciones crudas, sucias y cortas de Guided by Voices.
An interesting way to make songs. Just when you're getting into the song, it's over and they continue on yet another thing. An long string of short, inspired tunes. I kinda like it.
An LP that's simple in execution but manages to hit a wide swath of rock genres, emotions, and reactions effectively. Stumbled upon this album my sophomore year of college, and though 'Game of Pricks' was the standout track for my adolescent depression the whole thing just hit all at once even in piecemeal. I must shamefully admit that I've never given the whole thing a straight playthrough until today. The smattered, ramshackle tracks can stand on their own but work much more effectively as a train of consciousness recorded straight to tape, and even if a given melody or lyric doesn't work it's quickly swept away and replaced with another in logical sequence. That's not to say there are too many misfires here, most of the instrumentals ramble along in a shockingly workable approximation of harmony that all comes together under the lo-fi production and the melodies are simple but damned effective. Feels almost as if Robert Pollard and crew are having a rager, group therapy session, and intervention all at once on record
A friend of mine introduced me to their music a few years ago and I liked it but didn't dig deeper. Got a chance to listen to a full album and I did like it. Striped White Jets is a banger. Very economical album with over 20 songs in 40 minutes. But the drawback is that it loses flow at times and makes it a tad uneven. But an overall solid album.
Quite like this one. Like if the Beatles made punk. Lots of short tracks, and I think I'm saving ten (of 28). Still impressive though, this is a nice album. Some great melodic riffs. Favorite tracks: A Salty Salute, Watch Me Jumpstart, As We Go Up, Game of Pricks, Big Chief Chinese Restaurant, Closer You Are, Motor Away, Blimps Go 90, Strawdogs, Chicken Blows. Album art: Really cool, a wigged-out psychedelic overlay on a steel drum in the desert? Very, very cool one. 4/5
I knew and loved Game of Pricks going into this, but never heard the rest of the album. Overall I really liked it. They’re at their best when they lean into their British Invasion interests, and the album does suffer the same way other ones with many very short songs do where they kind of bleed together
Man, talk about throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. I think the most disappointing thing about this record is that there are some songs on here that, if fleshed further out, would be absolutely A+ songs. Feels like a record where, the moment the writer hit a block, he moved on. Ends up that there are a lot more great songs on here than bad ones. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, looking at the track list length initially, but now what? Do I get further into this band? With that long a discography? Favorite tracks: "They're Not Witches", "Game Of Pricks", "Little Whirl"
3.5 Bee Thousand is the best!
Really enjoyed this unexpected album in its entirety from band Ive never heard of prior. Lo fi first. Loved the sound
4.5.
It's cool. It's weird. It's well-played. It feels like they put in about 50% effort. It feels like they didn't need to put in any more than that. It feels like it doesn't have any kind of message. It feels like it doesn't need one at all. What a strange, wonderful album.
Me rappelle Oasis. Accrocheur, ample, satisfaisant. Navigue habilement entre profondeur et légèreté.