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The Kill Power Hour #056 - Propeller (1992)
35 Plays1 year ago
Are you ready to rock? Eric shares his 2nd favorite record of all-time, one of Guided by Voices' top 100 albums, the beer-soaked garage-rock masterpiece Propellor. It takes Tucker and Tyler a while to come to the collage aesthetic that Pollard and his drinking buddies employ, but they can't deny the power of a good melody and some fist-pumping tunes. They even bring some surprises to the table, with "inspired-by" tracks from Arthur Russel and The Zombies. Enjoy!
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Transcript
Introduction to Podcast and 'Propeller'
00:00:06
Speaker
power hour podcast where three friends spend the better part of an hour arguing and explaining why low fidelity doesn't necessarily mean low quality each week we through one item on our top 10 lists we're currently on albums and this week we'll be discussing my second favorite album of all time 1992's propeller by guided by voices i'm your host eric and as always i'm joined by my but best friend tucker i am him and my best friend's little brother Yeah. No, this is low fidelity. Jesus fucking Christ.
00:00:38
Speaker
What the fuck is that? Guided by Voices. ge Oh God. and How many fucking albums does this guy have? Do these guys have? There's like 30,000 fucking songs. Like hooray for them.
00:00:50
Speaker
There's a lot
Robert Pollard and Guided by Voices' Legacy
00:00:51
Speaker
in there. Really, Robert Pollard, the main singer, songwriter, the guy basically who is guided by voices because he's played with probably over 50 people have gone in and out of the band at this point.
00:01:04
Speaker
um Yeah, he's the most prolific songwriter I've ever known. That's a lot of freaking albums. I mean, Guide By Voice has just released their 38th album this year. Jesus fucking Christ. I mean, are they pulling like a Rolling Stones where like the last hit was in the 80s?
00:01:21
Speaker
And for the majority of people, they're definitely what I would say a cult band is. And even I like kind of stopped following around like 2000.
00:01:33
Speaker
10 is when I was like, okay, it's just kind of becoming too much. But I think he has like enough of a cult fan base that will buy every single album he puts out.
00:01:47
Speaker
like So every time he like releases a record, i don't know how many they're making, but it's it's paying for his life. Fucking hooray for him, man. How big is the band? I look at this photo, it's like a lot of people.
00:02:00
Speaker
It's usually five people. Is he the one that looks the oldest and closest to death? Yeah. I mean, he's like mid-60s at this point. um And he he's not he doesn't live like a laid-back life when he's touring. I mean, their shows are notoriously just- fucking cocaine all the time?
00:02:17
Speaker
No, it's it's really just pounding beer. It's like, it's yeah, they're they're crazy. and I remember I saw one. I've seen them. several times and like one show they came out and they have a cooler that they bring on stage that's just full of beers for the band love that there's a bottle of jack that gets passed around like one of the big ones sounds about right and then they have two buckets oh no it's stage one that says puke and one that says piss oh my god dude this sounds like weekday nights for me no This is like a weekday night for me. this is Exactly.
00:02:53
Speaker
That's why I thought Tyler would appreciate this. get home from work. I get my cooler full of beers. I get the buckets. Is it going to be a puke or a piss night tonight? Jesus Christ.
00:03:05
Speaker
You take your pick, kids, but you're cleaning up whichever bucket you pick. Milo, you get puke. Nash, you get pissed. Oh, my god. Jesus Christ. But this is this was their fifth album.
Creation of 'Propeller' and Its Significance
00:03:18
Speaker
So Propeller came out in 1992. At the end of 1991, Robert Pollard was basically ready to call it quits. He was facing- Really? Yeah, he was facing a lot of pressure from his family and his parents, basically. Because he's a 30-year-old grade school teacher.
00:03:39
Speaker
at this time like oh oh my god all the guys have full-time jobs this is just like the thing they they practice and record songs in their basement they stopped playing live because they didn't feel like anyone in dayton ohio really they got them so well and so they just would self-release records and you know the first four they there's some good stuff on there but they're they're not that great and so they weren't really getting any attention. And so that this propeller was going to be, okay let's just take the best songs that we've got and just we're going to go to a 24-track studio and record it try to make it as professional as possible, and then be done. Like, I'm over it.
00:04:21
Speaker
And so they did go to the studio, but and as you've probably heard in this album, it's it's not it doesn't sound like a professional recording. What the fuck happened?
00:04:33
Speaker
He's never really been happy with the way they sound in the studio. uh it always like even in subsequent albums he's like uh i don't like it or was it yeah he even in like uh two early 2000s he worked with rico casick okay oh wow the guy from cars he produced one of their records and it was so slick it i mean it's called do the collapse listen to it it definitely has some of their more mainstream stuff on there But um yeah, i Pollard has always been like, I just want to whatever slows down the recording process, fuck it.
00:05:06
Speaker
Yeah. He found an immediacy in four track recording and just trying to do everything at home. And they would record songs in like 20 minutes. you know Exit Flager is one of those songs. yeah wow Some of this shit, it was as song yeah very drastic though, because the first part of this album I almost am borderline like, this is kind of overproduced. Like, there's so much wis wispy fucking, like, echoey shit.
00:05:36
Speaker
And I'm like, oh, this is kind of interesting and cool. And then it fucking fell off after a few tracks. And I'm like, which I like liked all of the music on there. Yeah. But it was such a dramatic, like, is was this like some live shit? Did EC fail in his ability to pick an album and this is just a compilation of random tracks?
00:05:56
Speaker
I think he he just finally came to the conclusion that to make an album for Guided by Voices, it doesn't mean we need all need to go in the studio, record the batch of songs, and then, like, put it all out sounding the same.
00:06:09
Speaker
He's also a collage artist. Okay, well, drew that makes a lot of sense. That tracks for her. I'm going to call it, yeah. yeah but But yeah, so they're all full-time dudes like drinking beers, recording on the weekends. And ah they they made 500 copies.
00:06:28
Speaker
They took out a bank loan to make this album. And the money had ran out by the time they got the record. So they didn't have any money for... decorating the jackets. So like over two months, everyone had to hand do every single LP. Oh my god. They made 500 of these. And these now regularly sell like upwards of $10,000 per record. Oh, course. Because they're just collector's items. Oh.
00:06:52
Speaker
We've done the folding note of a record yeah cassette tape sleeves. Absolutely. Sit there with a case of beer and fold away. It's great. ah And he was just like, okay, everyone can get 20 copies. Do whatever you want with them. I'm just going to hold on to mine. There was one guy in the band, Pete Jameson. Actually, not a band member. He was just like their manager.
00:07:13
Speaker
ah He sent out his copies to... like ah some record labels, some magazine reviewers. And then it fell into like a some of the guys from Sonic Youth got a hold of it.
00:07:28
Speaker
One of the dudes from Pavement and Matt Sweeney, who's done a lot of ah music and production. And they were like, what the fuck is this? Because this came out of nowhere. This album. Yeah. they Like all of a sudden there's like, what?
00:07:40
Speaker
Who the fuck are these people? What the fuck am I listening to? yeah It sounded so strange. And so fresh, I think, to what was becoming indie rock. This early for what this it Yeah, this is like early indie rock. And if this came out of nowhere, like you're saying, holy shit.
00:07:56
Speaker
Yeah, that would... So they get flown out to New York to play the CMJ, the College of Music Journal, their showcase that they would do.
Breakthrough Moment with Matador
00:08:05
Speaker
And like that show, they got signed to Matador. Because they've people never knew what to expect. And they yeah like all of a sudden, these middle-aged dudes come out.
00:08:14
Speaker
And their live shows are fucking bonkers. like They're doing like, the who's like windmill kicks and he's flipping around microphone and the the guys are like just so energetic. Yeah.
00:08:28
Speaker
So looks like they all need naps now. It is a little sad. They're the ones who have like partied so hard. I'm just like, Oh yeah, you guys aren't going to age gracefully at all. Oh, does it not look like that's happening? yeah Yeah. But nobody wants to see that.
00:08:44
Speaker
I go to pay a bunch of money to go see a fucking show. i want to see a rager. Yes. Or I want to see some emotion. i want to see something spectacular. I don't want to see a bunch of yeah boring people.
00:08:55
Speaker
I actually almost feel like this might bring up like the fact that they wrote so many fucking albums. It's because... and If you play music and you fucking jam the same shit every goddamn night, like you throw some something for the musicians to like totally fucking play. And I love i you know, I respect this more and more, especially the the ones that can balance this in live settings. Yeah.
00:09:18
Speaker
everybody at the show wants to see and hear the hits yeah so do that but also mix in the new shit do a couple of fucking jams that everybody knows play a weird song yeah do another jam play a weird song like yeah the the bands that can balance this it's good for the band it's good for the audience yeah mix it up it's how these guys have been around for well they formed in 1983 they're 40 years how How many times have you seen him in real life?
00:09:46
Speaker
I've seen him probably seven times. Wait, 30 years. You said 40. 2023? 1993. How old 83. Oh, 83. Yeah.
00:09:57
Speaker
Tucker, how old are The first time I saw him, I was actually writing for the college newspaper and got to interview them. No shit. Yeah. So we went to, and I was underage, couldn't even get to the show, but I got in because through the press pass.
00:10:12
Speaker
And so Ryan's knowledge was completely obsolete when we interviewed them. Oh, of the band, you mean? Yeah, or yeah, because they had just released ah Do the Collapse. That was the one produced by Rico Kasich.
00:10:25
Speaker
And it base Pollard had fired the previous band. And all of Ryan's questions were about the previous band. Oh, shit. Wait, wait. We're talking to the band, and you're like, yeah, they're gone. like he's not He doesn't play with us. Wait, so he scrapped everybody? Yeah, he's done that several times where he just like fires the whole band, gets a new band, and it just like keeps it fresh that way.
00:10:48
Speaker
How? Wow. i mean That's got to be weird. There's no way that the old band but could could keep up. Yeah, that's actually a good thing. It's like, also, how many people, other than the people we're stuck with, I was actually just thinking about this Tucker oh almost knows me for 40 years. Yeah.
00:11:06
Speaker
Which is insane. Right. Yeah. That we still talk to each other. um go um Could you imagine bands? You're in a you're in a group of fucking four or five people in some of these longer bands.
00:11:19
Speaker
The fact that any of them still I feel like people are way too hard on on these bands of like, oh, they couldn't keep it together. They couldn't be friends. Dude, who you friends with for that long? Not even friends.
00:11:32
Speaker
You're a co-worker. Yes. Yeah. Like, yeah. Fucking Larry always looks at me this way, whatever. like ah could And then on top of it, you have to live with these fucking people. In a van?
00:11:43
Speaker
Right. Yeah, have to deal with all of their shit. Like, I'm going to bring up a Madea movie right now because I fucking love Madea. you guys watch Madea movies? I don't know who a Madea is. Not since you made us watch them all on your top 10 list. Oh my God. I fucking love Madea.
00:11:59
Speaker
No, Madea was talking about like, she's like, baby, you gotta, you gotta to marry multiple people. And then she's like, what the fuck are you talking about? She's like, no, you gotta, if you get married to somebody, you gotta marry who they are now and who they're going to be for the rest of their life, which is going infinitely change. Oh, This kind of brings it up to like being in a band for a super long time, man. yeah The people that you started band with are not going to be any, especially band people, are the most unreliable, fucking flaky, fucking alcoholic people.
00:12:27
Speaker
Yeah, okay. Expect to be with those fuckers 20 years down the road. Good luck with that. Good luck with that shit. It's a goddamn miracle if anybody lines up for that long. Yeah. Those are the guys that actually do stick around. It's the people that actually have a job or kids. legal yeah ah So, we kind of set the stage for the album.
00:12:49
Speaker
ah And this album really is the beginning of a string of amazing albums that they put out, save for the one immediately following it. We'll get to that. um This album starts out with like one of the their most epic bangers, like as a two for combo um and they have that great the fake chanting at the beginning that makes it feel like you're at a arena rock show it makes me feel like i'm about to listen to like a iron maiden right yeah yeah or something but um so yeah that's a i tell you when i first listened to this the sound i really liked the production of
00:13:27
Speaker
It's first handful of songs. Yeah. No, it's it's it's what I would call like mid-fi, right? it's Yeah. It has like a definitely a larger space and the tracks, but there is like this kind of...
00:13:40
Speaker
not sludgy it's almost like tinny uh hiss that's no i felt like i was listening to a tape that's been played a thousand times yes that's the best way to describe it is like someone hands you this fucking tape that is a dub of a dub and you got it from your weed dealer's brother and it's like this is the album that you get um Yeah, so that that and then the following song, Weed King, which is kind of like a cool like prog ballad.
00:14:08
Speaker
I should say Robert Pollard, he's always considers ah his style of music to exist within the four P's, which is psychedelic, prog rock, punk and pop.
00:14:21
Speaker
oh That's sort of his Venn diagram. I picked up the psychedelics so hard and this gets this picks up my first like ah like my inspired track song. Like when I heard Weed King, this is a stretch. This is a fucking stretch. But the first thing that popped in my head was the zombies time of the season. Ooh, that's actually, that's a proper. Yeah.
00:14:47
Speaker
That's solid Tyler. That is really solid. So that's what we're going to.
00:15:05
Speaker
When love runs high in this time Give it to me easy And let me try with pleasure hands To take you in the sun
00:15:23
Speaker
It's the time of the season for love.
00:15:40
Speaker
What's your name? Who's your daddy? Is he rich like me? Has he taken any time to show you what you need to live?
00:15:58
Speaker
Tell him to me slowly, tell you why I really want to know Is the time of the season for long?
00:16:53
Speaker
What's your name? Who's your daddy? Is he rich like me? Has he taken any time to share?
00:17:18
Speaker
It's the time of the season for life.
00:18:16
Speaker
You got the AIDS, Jenny. So that was Zombie's time of the season with the worst fucking organ, Hammond organ fucking solos. i That was hard to do, but the rest of it- I feel like this song, first of excellent pick, Tyler. This song ends like many songs on Propeller 2 with an extended solo fade out. It's just like they don't really- There's not many songs on this album that have a real tight ending.
00:18:44
Speaker
oh Yeah. So- But that yeah, I mean, you're right there. with I'm sure this is in Pollard's record collection. um So that's that's a fucking excellent pick.
00:18:55
Speaker
I like that. That's what I'm looking for, Tucker. Looking for insightful, inspirational to the fans. Play the same Sebado song every time. mean, I was trying to play... Okay, you guys just outed me. i was This album, a particular track, reminded me of a particular Sebado track that I had concerned was also a different episode inspired by track. And I don't even listen to Sebado that much, but...
00:19:23
Speaker
really sticking with me but i ah i think i have a backup okay that that we're gonna get to eventually all right can't wait to be surprised yeah i'm here for you ah pollard is generally on his best albums of a as a career, terrible at editing, right? He like, more he usually puts too much filler on the records.
00:19:47
Speaker
And I think that's indicative of his, how many records he's put out. He has a line where he was in an an interview and someone like, how many songs do you write a day? he's like, I can write five songs when I go to take a shit and three of them will be pretty good.
00:20:01
Speaker
Wow. Wow. It's like, okay. Uh, and this album suffers a little bit from some of that excess and, Particular Damaged was one of those for me. I never really understood it.
Pollard's Songwriting Process
00:20:15
Speaker
like It's such a yes such a weird, awful, irritating song.
00:20:20
Speaker
So early in the mix. So early. But the one saving grace that it has is that it makes Quality of Armor, the next song, sound even fucking better, which is my favorite track off the album. so Is it? for that Yeah. Yeah, I'm going to drive my car.
00:20:40
Speaker
Oh yeah, I'm going to go real far As we were sitting down at the final stages
00:21:16
Speaker
Oh yeah, I'm going to drive my car
00:22:23
Speaker
Going to go real far Beyond the shadow of a doubt Beyond the power of your crowd Beyond the secret bogus world Beyond the miners in my heart Beyond the shadow of a doubt Beyond the power of your crowd Beyond the secret bogus world Beyond the miners in my heart
00:22:51
Speaker
Beyond the battle of your path Beyond the secret of your world Beyond the miles from my house Beyond the shadow of a god Beyond the battle of your path They're having a blast. That was Quality of Armor, the fourth song off of Propeller by Guided by Voices.
00:23:10
Speaker
ah We watched the live version, and that's everything I want in a show. I could go to that show, not know this band, and have the greatest time. Exactly. i fully believe that. like Even if you don't know their songs, like they know how to put on a fucking killer show. so Yeah. Everybody's playing hard. Everybody's fucking sweaty.
00:23:28
Speaker
yeah Everyone in the fucking... That's the thing. You ever go to shows... This may be because I'm old now. I go to shows and I look at the people around me and they're having fucking moments. That's what I want, man. yeah Oh, yeah. Lots of feelings.
00:23:40
Speaker
That's when it means something. Like, I... yeah Yeah. It's fucking weird. Yeah. And that has like the most Beatles-esque kind of quality to it, I feel like.
00:23:52
Speaker
Pollard is so good with his vocal melodies. i I love the way he sings. um Yeah, it's just strong stuff. Then we got into Metal Mothers, another fucking rock ballad.
00:24:02
Speaker
um Another song that ends with a mediocre guitar solo and a long fade out. And then we get to Lethargy, um which I kind of like. I think that it's like think that one's okay. It's a weird like pause. Drums and bass? Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
00:24:18
Speaker
Are you happy? Happy today? Is your face face mask on? Dude, yeah. No, that's a that's a fun one. And then we go to Unleash Large Harder Boy. and that was the fucking love that song and that that was a song. That was the first song I ever covered. like Ryan and I played it at a to show. Yeah, when we were in college. And we covered that song. and What? It's a solid banger. It's got a cool bass, driving bass. It's not too long.
00:24:49
Speaker
Not too long. Nope. Yeah. I actually, that's one thing that we should appreciate. Yeah. We should appreciate about this band is he knows when to fucking call a song done.
00:25:00
Speaker
Totally. Yes. And and you could... like you said, he's got a lot of filler in these albums and that obviously I feel like for good photographers take a lot of pictures.
00:25:12
Speaker
Yes. He's obviously a good musician. Yeah. He makes a lot of songs. Maybe some of those songs shouldn't see the light of day, but whatever you gotta to do. You gotta make a lot of shit to come up with some good stuff. And yes, uh, you mean, yeah, you gotta, you gotta us fucking peel some potatoes to make some French fries is what some people might say. Wow.
00:25:33
Speaker
You got to stick your dick in a lot of glory holes before you find one with a good mouth. And then you got the fucking weird acoustic shit that's about to happen. Luckily, that's short, too.
00:25:45
Speaker
ah I appreciate the acoustic shit. ah What are we at? Red Gas Circle? Yeah. It is kind of forgettable. It's a little filler. But again, I i would say that the contrast that it provides in the the album is what keeps you on your toes.
00:26:00
Speaker
You're like, oh, this is so different and kind of weird, but I'm going to keep listening. I will say, like, you know, so you get to particular damaged... Sorry, I want to go back a little bit. like yeah I'm like, oh, okay, I could get into this for the first two, because I had not listened to this album before. Sure. And, like, I know what Guided by Voices is.
00:26:19
Speaker
i could probably tell you some songs later in the late 90s or so, but... Teenage FBI. not Yeah, like not in my my forefront of my mind. But then like you hit particular damage. I'm like, what the fuck am I listening to? mean, just like what you guys are saying. Like i had like I wanted to check like a song like that makes me want to just stop listening, even though we have a podcast about albums. Like I'm like, fuck, I can't get through a minute and 59 seconds. Yeah.
00:26:49
Speaker
But then I did. I'm like, oh, wait, now we're on this path. Yeah. But this 1992. You're listening to a fucking tape, man. You have to go do some effort, and you're probably going to go too far and have to rewind. this is little like Just think about this. like You're this dude. You're going to like inflict this on the listener. This isn't like a quick like press a button and go to the next song. like He's forcing...
00:27:14
Speaker
people to fucking deal with this shit. I mean, this is a perfect vinyl album to me. Like, it makes sense as an actual record. And then, yeah, I mean, when I first got it, it was one of those ah double albums, like repackaged.
00:27:29
Speaker
So it was the propeller and then the album that was released on an actual label right after this called Vampire on Titus, which is... The weirdest fucking follow up like, okay, you get ah big breakthrough and you actually get signed to a record label that gives you an advance. And then i you can listen to my paradise if you want.
00:27:51
Speaker
But if you thought this album was noisy and weird, that one just doubles down on it. Really? wow. They tried to lose their fans as soon as they got them. I don't understand artists that do that. Yeah.
00:28:05
Speaker
It was so strange. But then after that, they like course corrected and released trilogy of amazing albums, starting with B-1000, Alien Lanes, and then Under the Bushes, Under the Stars, which are like the Matador albums. They're so fucking good.
00:28:19
Speaker
Or do they have like a like a does this guy listen to his producers? Is does he like do the albums change with the producers? ah The sound of them changes. But I think Paul that's kind of what I'm looking for. Yeah.
00:28:33
Speaker
Say on the editing and sequence like what songs are included and what order they get put on. That's his decision. I feel like this podcast has made me look at bands throughout like lengths of out like multiple albums. And I like to see, like, I feel like a lot of bands, like, or maybe it's the record labels or whatever, they throw in different producers to kind of mix things up because maybe the band is too stuck in their ways or, or whatever. And I can appreciate that. It's risky. Yeah.
00:29:06
Speaker
It's risky, but like, i mean, look at like fucking Rick Rubin, man. I mean, like there's like some producers that can fucking draw shit out of people. Totally. I've been kind of fascinated by him lately.
00:29:17
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I would love to hear a Rick Rubin produced Guide by Voices album. Whoa. That'd be a fucking cool one. All right, so I think we're on B-side
Spotlight on 'Exit Flager'
00:29:29
Speaker
now. And then we're at Exit Flager. Or, yeah, Exit Flager, which is like another like strong, fast-paced jam.
00:29:37
Speaker
I like that outll that out song a lot. I don't know what an Exit Flager is. that a traffic person? It's a... Oh. Like someone no fucking clue telling you to go. yeah I will say Pollard's lyrics are nonsensical most of the time. Have you ever listened to a fucking Nico Case album? I mean, we talked about this forever. Like, yeah Jesus Christ, whatever web she's spinning.
00:30:01
Speaker
So he he chooses words based on the way they sound, not what they mean. Right. So. ah The drumming on Exit Flager. i think Robert Pollard, he doesn't play any instruments when they perform. He just sings. But he does play a lot of guitar and other instruments. And I think this is might be one where he's playing the drums. I have no idea.
00:30:22
Speaker
ah We get to 14 Cheerleader Cold Front. I fucking love this Such a beautiful song. And this is where we see Tobin Sprout, who is probably the closest. If we think of ah Pollard as John Lennon, Tobin Sprout was like the Paul McCartney.
00:30:39
Speaker
to balance him out when they were together, like playing in the band. How long was he in the band for? Like only a few years? He in the band for three albums and, sorry, four albums, five albums.
00:30:52
Speaker
Six. During the golden era. Well, no, and then he came back and had three more albums. Oh, wow. Okay. So yeah, like almost 10 albums. Jesus. But during like the the golden era for them, He was on for five albums and he would start to contribute some of the best song, like the contrasty songs, but they're really good songs too, because they're written by someone else. So did he get clipped or did he walk away?
00:31:18
Speaker
because Okay, so if you're what you say is true yeah and his' his contributions are greater With time. Yes. And this guy is of the nature in this band hierarchy where he can fire the band. Yes. So it's just him.
00:31:34
Speaker
Yep. Like, did he fire this guy? Because he's like, oh, shit. He, I mean, it you could probably get a different answer based on who you talk to. ah He did let Tobin Sprout go when he left, right?
00:31:45
Speaker
let the rest of the band go at that time. But Tobin Sprout also had a child, is a painter. And so I wanted to let go. And what was kind of sweet is both Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout released their first solo albums on the same day, both through Matador. Whoa. So it was like kind of like a peaceful gesture. Like, okay, we're also like expanding and doing this other stuff. Okay. so Well, so it's this song that reminded me of my revised album.
00:32:15
Speaker
inspired by a track, which is not from Sebado. and It's not Kokomo. No. And it's from one of my artists, one of my favorite artists of all time that I just, I tried to get onto this top 10 list. Honestly, a few Drake has a lot of albums and I know it was hard.
00:32:34
Speaker
Rihanna. Um, no, it's Arthur Russell with Oh Fernanda. Why?
00:32:54
Speaker
If I try to be so free that you can't remember me When I come back next door I take my time to learn but forget it all I write myself a letter instead writing you See your mind makes faces See your mind makes faces in the mirror too Oh Fernando White Oh Fernando White The best of me is still alone Outside the house, outside Milano Oh Fernando White
00:34:03
Speaker
Here I stood in the grass in my shoes like a foreigner in the nature I love. It's so, so hard to tell if it's really, really true It used to be the two of us But now it's three See your mind makes faces See your mind makes faces in the mirror Who over never won?
00:34:43
Speaker
Oh, Fernando, why?
00:35:00
Speaker
Oh, Fernando, why?
00:35:12
Speaker
That was Arthur Russell's Love Is Overtaking Me album. ah The song is called Oh, Fernanda, Why? And it just had this like weird, folksy, twangy, lo-fi feel.
00:35:24
Speaker
It's a lo-fi, echoey guitar vibe, I feel like, that has throughout this album. It has that vibe, I feel like. the Totally. Well, those first, I don't know what they're called when you're strumming a guitar. Chords. Chords? Yeah.
00:35:38
Speaker
like Just listen to the first couple chords of 14 cheerleaders. It's like the exact same. Yeah. No, both of you are A-plus for your inspired tracks. Well, thanks. I was feeling the pressure. ah the so Next week, Sebado makes its return.
00:35:55
Speaker
This album takes a real weird like hard turn. It falls off a fucking cliff. Yeah. So ah back to Saturn X radio report. these These are all songs that were...
00:36:08
Speaker
Like fully, fully recorded songs that were shit-canned and left off the record. And you just hear little snippets of It's a sonic collage of the B-sides, essentially.
00:36:19
Speaker
And if if you're a diehard, it's kind of fun to go back and listen to these full songs and hear the context that they were in. Yeah. But it's... I think what Pollard's going for, which he also expanded upon with B-1000, their probably best album, ah was like you're tuning into this AM radio from a different planet ah where all these genres have combined. It feels that way. It really does feel that way. And so it's one of those things where it's kind of cooler in concept than it is listening to.
00:36:51
Speaker
um That ergo space pig one has like a sixty s fucking total psychedelic jam. And that weird, like that I can't tell if it's a vocal or a buzzing guitar. the wow wow wow wow wow yeah I what that is. like It's so weird.
00:37:10
Speaker
um Yeah, I like that song way more than particular damage. like But it seems like it's filling that same role where it's like, we're just going to do a weird psych freak out kind of This album isn't something i would want to listen to in front of people.
00:37:26
Speaker
I'd put this album on at a party. You know what mean? Yeah. The whole thing? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I played it and on vinyl. Oh, man. I just... and I guess I'm looking for somewhat consistency and it's so fucking far off. Yeah. I want to, buy I want to sit with a vibe and like a, a band, uh, an album can climax at one point and come back down or come over.
00:37:52
Speaker
But at least if it's like on ah some sort of linear journey and this one, yeah, I could, I could not throw this on at a party. On the other side, it it is a B-side, so you could play the first side of the tape or the first side of the record and then just fucking move on. Just just skip the third song.
00:38:08
Speaker
But the like i I feel like a lot of people forget the intention, like the the track listing. like yeah Nowadays, it's so easy to fucking move around. But back when this was tape and vinyl, in 92, this wasn't vinyl. Vinyl wasn't that...
00:38:23
Speaker
But that's how they put
Vinyl Release and Pollard's Format Preference
00:38:24
Speaker
it out. I mean, Pollard was old school that way. like But it was taped, though, mostly, right? No, no, no with the way You think it was straight vinyl? That's all they did. 500 12-inch copies. that's No shit. In 92. Wow.
00:38:36
Speaker
wow They didn't do any tapes. too Yeah, it was just records. That's bonkers. Yes. That's weird. In 92, vinyl was very out of favor. Yeah, and that's yeah why people... I mean, at least in this e yeah type of music...
00:38:48
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. So imagine you're the spouse of this person who's just recording some of the weirdest songs and some really beautiful songs, but a lot of weird songs and then putting them out on this dying format and and has a full-time job.
00:39:04
Speaker
It must've been cheap. I wonder if it was like really cheap back then. Well, it was, it probably was cheaper than it is now. I guarantee that. Yeah. But yeah, it's a, I mean, and that also marks like, okay, we criticize a lot of albums for being like front loaded.
00:39:18
Speaker
But when you think about it, all right, we put our singles and most popular songs on the A side and the B sides for the fucking fans. Right. This is where we can get weird and experiment and try some, some shit. I i agree. I don't, I actually don't fault people for front loading an album.
00:39:34
Speaker
yes You're exactly right, man. like Just get the goods over with if you're there for that. yes yeah yeah I'm here at Schinders. I just want to make a beeline to the back room. God, I love that place.
00:39:49
Speaker
Rest in peace. man okay Circus World. This is where it like the album is definitely winding down. I like this song. It's a cool song. I love that line, shit gets so old and demanding. like When I hear that now, I'm just like, oh preach. Yeah, it resonates.
00:40:07
Speaker
um And then Some Drilling Implied. That's my last favorite song on this record. well but the The last three here, Circus World, Some Drilling Implied, On the Tundra, it closes out the album very well to me. like that's Yeah.
00:40:20
Speaker
that's It was a little shocking when it went from lo-fi to ah picked up a couple yeah songs that were better. Some drilling implied is like if you took Nirvana and Jawbox right and smashed it together. And I'm like, oh. like a Yeah, like of so like Bleach era Nirvana. Like they're sludgy. Yeah. slud yeah No, I like that song a lot. but It's like got a really simple drum beat, a super cool bass line, and then Robert Poehler just being like, I'm done with your shit. He wrote a lot of these songs with his brother.
00:40:55
Speaker
Oh. And his brother was... like a kind of a college basketball star oh oh weird and he was like particularly poking fun at him here where the first line he's like i dare not say the way i feel about your inability to suck it up and win the game like that line is like directed straight to his fucking brother wow wow ah And then the album closes with On the Tundra, which is like a very sweet, simple closer. It's it's kind of the perfect one to end the album. And it's actually written by him and his brother. yeah.
00:41:29
Speaker
Yeah. Are they okay? No, it totally. yeah No, they fuck with each other. Cause Pollard was like a high school baseball star. He like pitched a no hitter and was, you know, like, so these are like sports dudes. This is kind of the most jockey music I could listen to. Honestly.
00:41:45
Speaker
It's like if jocks, I would not put this in any sort of frame of reference with jock. Oh yeah. It's hard for me to combine those two and indie rock. that That really is what it is. well Yeah.
00:41:57
Speaker
Um, ah Yeah, I enjoy this album a lot.
'Propeller's' Impact on the Band's Future
00:42:00
Speaker
I will say it's not the best Sky to Buy Voices album. They have better ones. But for me, it's your favorite the meaning of this album, like the the where it is in the band's narrative of like people just doing the fucking work, underdogs.
00:42:14
Speaker
and about to cash it in and get the fucking winning lottery ticket that'll allow them to have the career of just being a touring musician. and That's pretty, yeah. like yeah he he hit the fucking He's living his life the exact fucking way he wants to. He's got a house in Ohio where he gets to do like art for part of the day, then record songs with his band, and then go out on tour for you know three months out of the year.
00:42:39
Speaker
Wow. Do they live in Ohio or...? um I don't know where the band lives these days. Does any band nowadays actually live in the same state? Very rarely. rarely. Why would anyone go to Ohio?
00:42:52
Speaker
Why does anybody want to live Ohio? Let's dig deep Tucker. Well, I'm having, I have a show at the Cincinnati Art Museum at the end of the year, so you should go to Ohio for that. I would go there for that. the parking lot, P.S. In the actual museum. He's going to show you something in the parking lot. He's got a radio flyer full of art. you want to see this?
00:43:12
Speaker
Free art show. yeah I named my dick Art. Wow. wow Have you used that joke before? That's a good one. No, that was a debut. and Dick says art. I already retired that joke.
00:43:29
Speaker
What have you guys been listening to this week? Well, talking about revisiting classics. Yes, here you And we remiss remastering and remixing classics.
00:43:41
Speaker
ah their Replacements Tim just got released with an entirely new mix. and where To the point where they actually change the length and sounds in songs.
00:43:53
Speaker
Okay, so that's a good thing to bring up because a lot of the music I listen to has been remixed by stuff. And when they remix music and they bring up like backup vocals or they change the length of songs, it's very jarring.
00:44:09
Speaker
Yes. Especially if you've been listening to something for like 30 some years. Totally. And you hear the same, it's the same song, but then they brought up stuff that was only in the like periphery of your like fucking listening pleasure. Totally.
00:44:25
Speaker
It's like you've been listening to this album without any eyewear and then all of a sudden you have shit eyesight and then all of a sudden you put on a pair of glasses and you're like, holy fuck.
00:44:35
Speaker
Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it's bad. well But this I would say in this case, it's very, very good. You enjoyed it? Oh, my God. it's It, to me, is the definitive version of this album now. I will never listen to the older version.
00:44:47
Speaker
No shit. Yeah. they they He got it right. So highly recommend it. Damn. What about you, Tucker? I discovered a band called Suburban Lawns.
00:45:00
Speaker
Dude, this is one of the coolest things I've listened to in years. Is it a California man? Sounds like a California man. I don't know where they were from. I could probably find this out pretty quickly. But they it's like this kind of like new wave, avant sort of pop. Unsubscribe. No, dude. this Nazi punk?
00:45:22
Speaker
No, they put out one. Wow. Wow. a Playfully subversive new wave pop band with sharp arty edge.
00:45:33
Speaker
So, dude, they put out one album in 1980. It's super quirky. Oh, oh weird. But really catchy. like Like, simple, but totally weird. Like, these guys had to have been...
00:45:45
Speaker
I don't know what this says about me, but if you would have said it came out last year, I was not going to listen to this. I was expecting it. came out in 1980. It's fucking cool. I might listen to it. And like the main singer ah gal, she has like a weird um ah weird name. I'm trying to find it. But anyway, so she's disappeared.
00:46:03
Speaker
On purpose. No, because this band is kind of like one of those weirdo cult bands where like they just did this thing. No one gave a fuck. And then she has to like hide from her fans. No, she's just. Oh, yeah. her She goes under the name Sue Tissue.
00:46:17
Speaker
i'll me too. God damn it. that's but That's my safe word, actually. Sue Tissue. you yeah dig We'll listen to a song when this episode is done because it's fucking cool, man. right.
00:46:29
Speaker
What about you, Tyler? Yeah. um So I'm like, i you know, top 10. i'm I have like ah um a page, of a fucking notepad page of all these bands that I thought of yeah over a few period of a few months.
00:46:45
Speaker
All these albums I thought of. And yeah one of the ones that was like, man, it's the fucking top one. But the problem is, is that all their albums are like six songs or seven songs.
00:46:57
Speaker
Sure. So fucking good though. Like if I asked anything of you guys, I need you to like fucking listen to some of this stuff. It's big business.
00:47:09
Speaker
It's fucking bass player with distortion and the fucking world's greatest goddamn drummer. Chuck Biscuits? So fucking good. No, like ah Big Business, Mind the Draft, Cat's Mice, the song, listen to it.
00:47:26
Speaker
andka It is epic. What's it called? Big Business is the band. Mind the Draft is the album. Cats, Mice is the song. what you're You listen to this and it's like you're like entered into a book.
00:47:44
Speaker
Like really? I listen to these songs and I'm like reading a book. And I don't know what that fuck that what that means. and just sounds like Just fucking do it, man. It's... ah They did so much with with two fucking people. that I think later later albums has like more people. like's What's the time period that big business exists in?
00:48:03
Speaker
ah two Late 2000s. Okay, cool. I think they're still they made an album in 2019, so I don't know if they're still around. but Okay. It's the fucking jam, man. It's like some heavy shit.
00:48:15
Speaker
Sweet. ahll give yeah I'll give them a listen. Big business. I still have my tab open for refuse. Refused. Refused. Oh, yeah. yeah Just listen to that one album. and yeah That's all you'll ever need. You don't need to listen to it again, but yeah like it's a good reference. It's on my to-do list. so it's a It's a perspective album. I've listened to some albums before, and it's changed my view of every other thing. now I might not ever listen to them again. Yeah.
00:48:43
Speaker
No, that's why fuck um I'm doing this goddamn podcast. Goddamn podcast. Expand my view. So this leads me to my fucking number two.
00:48:54
Speaker
o are we lately? Firm? Dude. Sloppy? Dude, they slide right out. It's next season our favorite BMs. It's just... So there was this one day in 1985. Our favorite way is to consume a White Castle slider. Ew.
00:49:12
Speaker
What the fuck? like to boof it. i don't want to know what that means. What the fuck does that mean? When people do cocaine and they blow it up their anuses, it's called boofing it.
00:49:23
Speaker
Who's blowing that? You have to get a partner to do... Who does that? This is a sign of a terrible person. Would you start putting drugs up at your ass?
00:49:34
Speaker
That's fucked up, Just fucking stop, guys. Just go do so just fucking drink some bleach. Is it better to put drugs up your ass because you're smuggling it, or is it better to put drugs up your ass because you just want to get high? No, if you're smuggling it, I'm hoping you're getting paid tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to do this.
00:49:53
Speaker
You'd have to put a lot of cocaine up your ass to get $100,000. Well, I agree. Quote of the episode. Quote of the episode. I don't talk much, but when... Wait, are you talking about your rate plus the price of cocaine?
00:50:08
Speaker
Well, no, I mean, you're not... Ooh, yeah, because that takes off off the cost of the actual... Yeah, no one does this anymore. They just make cocaine America. You just download it. Yes, three d print that shit. Wow. What are you guys doing 3D printing cocaine?
00:50:25
Speaker
Yeah. It's just you print a stick. You basically take the one stick of stuff and turn it another one, and then you just sand it. yeah Sorry. Oh, God damn it. Okay, so back to my number two here. my number two.
00:50:40
Speaker
So, I actually haven't listened to this in probably five years. um But it was... was doing it every day for probably fucking ten years?
00:50:51
Speaker
At least. Pogs the album? Pogs the album. What's your slammer? is it a No, no. It's ah it's a fucking Black Flag Damaged.
00:51:02
Speaker
Ooh. All right. all right it is Looking forward to listening to this. Pivotal fucking punk rock album. Henry Rollins' first album. He's trying way too fucking hard, and he's very young.
00:51:16
Speaker
He's trying so hard. Dude, if there's anything you could say about Rollins is he fucking commits to the part. Yeah, he plays the role. He doesn't half-ass anything in his life. He he left fucking D.C.
00:51:29
Speaker
to go join this band that he was... It's fucking the infamous black flag. This is the one. And all of a sudden he's in the recording studio and he had to do this. He had to fucking keep up.
00:51:41
Speaker
And he is trying so hard in this. And it's not that great, but it's fucking so good also. well I'm looking forward to this. Yeah, man. All right. think 1981.
00:51:52
Speaker
You're right. Totally 1981. 34 minutes, which is kind of surprising. Dang. Well, join us next week. We're in the fucking twos, dude. That's not right. We were wearing cargo pants, and we can put a CD in the right pocket and a CD in the left pocket. Jesus. Wow, this is what we're fucking stealing. are taking it to 1995. Join us next week as we talk about Tyler's second favorite element all time, 1981's Damaged by Black Flag.
00:52:23
Speaker
Until then, bye-bye. Peace out. Yeah.