Those looking for ol Bee Thousand aesthetics should be pleased with this, at least a little bit - not as consistent or striking as they were back then but who would expect it to be? Still plenty of solid oddities to be had, with Sprout providing some of the most noteworthy tracks.
One hand: Interesting ideas; other hand: swathes of inconsquential ones. An unkemp slice of fuzz; promising at times but such highlights are buried under the weight of neighbouring trivialities.
This is a true Guided by Voices album, not a Pollard solo record with the GbV name plate. The Tobin Sprout
contributions are not only welcome, they are crucial. The Pollard songs are indeed a mixed bag but all of
Sprout's are great - like a guy who knows these are the only songs he's written in 15 years that will be
listened to. This is not an easy listen though. It is not a Boston Spaceships record. It is at times ugly. It has
a little Vampire On Titus about it. This is quite surprising and very refreshing. Yes, it may take a few spins
to really understand where the boys are heading here. But even in hectic ol' 2012, the time and effort is
well, well worth it.
