Robert Pollard - Honey Locust Honky Tonk

  by Maarten Schiethart

published: 15 / 8 / 2013

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Still on a comeback craze, Robert Pollard's 'Honey Locust Honky Tonk' follows on from four Guided by Voices LPs in recent years. A gift of brevity dominates this collection of music, all of which sounds like it has come from a much longer time ago. The mixtape charm of the album works well. Half-finished ideas appear on and off for a few moments only, but there are seventeen tracks in 33 minutes. After an initial mish mash of sounds, the first poppy tune 'Drawing A Picture' comes along like a Nick Lowe pub rock hum-a-long number. At times, Pollard sounds way too British for his own good. 'Who Buries The Undertaker' will lyrically appeal to those in the North, and 'She Hides in Black' comes across as aseamless blend of Mud and The Beatles. Side 2 kicks off with 'I Have To Drink'. which leads into even more REM-styled post country rock on 'Flash Gordon Style'. 'I Killed A Man Who Looks Like You' is a great attempt at folk pop irony. The album is now at risk of becoming a concept album. For the lo-fi parody of 'Another Brick In The Wall', Pollard hired a large chorus to sing 'Real Fun is No One's Monopoly'. Two rather ambient pop tracks close off this fine set of songs from the vaults.

Track Listing:-

1 She Hides in Black
2 He Requested Things
3 Circus Green Machine
4 Strange and Pretty Day
5 Suit Minus the Middle
6 Drawing a Picture
7 Who Buries the Undertaker
8 Her Eyes Play Tricks on the Camera
9 Find a Word
10 I Have to Drink
11 Flash Gordon Style
12 Igloo Hearts
13 Shielding Whatever Needs You
14 I Killed a Man Who Looks Like You
15 Real Fun Is No One's Monopoly
16 It Disappears in the Least Likely Hands (We May Never Not Know)
17 Airs

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/Robert-Pollard-9042192950/
http://www.robertpollard.net/
https://twitter.com/gbvtweets

Label Links:-

https://twitter.com/firerecordings
https://www.facebook.com/Firerecords
http://www.firerecords.com/
https://firerecords.bandcamp.com/
https://instagram.com/fire_records/
https://www.youtube.com/user/FirerecordsUK

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