Waving At The Astronauts
(2011, Serious Business Records/Ernst Jenning Record Co.)
It
appeared as if another Pollard related side-project had gone the way
of the dodo, until 2010 when another Lifeguards 7'' surfaced. With little warning, the new Lifeguards Product Head 7''
arrived featuring a new track from a new LP. In
2011, said new LP Waving
At The Astronauts saw
the light of day, and Lifeguards was back with a brand new 10 song
LP, 8 years after the fact. Extremely slow going in Pollardian terms.
Lifeguards still functioned as it did on their previous LP, Mist
King Urth. Former
GBV/Cobra Verde guitarist, Doug Gillard, played and recorded all the
instruments. Pollard added vocals, lyrics, and titles to Gillard compositions. The LP proves a slight improvement over its predecessor, but still
remains a bit of an uneven listen.
SIDE
A:
Paradise
is Not so Bad- 5 Wow!
What a track. Acoustic pop strums interrupted with great
fuzz-buzzing riff. Pollard’s vocals are punchy, powerful, right on
key, and the lyrics are fantastic. What a great hook too. Harks back to the glory days of Pollardian melodies. At nearly 5
minutes, this song actually works throughout. The proggy interludes
and outro are even solid, and scattered with serrated hooks.
Nobody’s
Milk- 3 Sharp,
heavy rock cut with angular riffs and baritone, slack-jawed Pollard contributions. Song lacks a great melody
but makes up for it in consistent attitude.
(Doing
the) Math- 3 Mid-tempo,
semi-glum British influence, surrealist pop. Instrumentally solid, vocally
strong, but fails with delivering that over the top moment. Solid minute
and a half instrumental outro.
Product
Head- 4 Released
as the single for the LP. Post-punk and off-time riffs give this an
industrial feel. Repetitive and hypnotic. Tremolo soaked
sparse solo adds to the controlled madness. Fun trip to take.
You’re
Gonna Need a Mountain- 2 Nearly
6 minutes of piano soaked weirdness. Psychofrenic and paranoid,
Gillard frantically hammers away at the piano, adding obligatory noises
while Pollard gives his best monotone of impending surrealism. There, I saved you 6 moody minutes of madness.
SIDE
B:
Sexless
Auto- 2 Gillard’s
been listening to Maiden again. ‘80s metal crunch and
repetitive riffs drag on. Redeemablly listenable thanks
to Pollard’s killer vocal performance and melodies that nearly save
the song. Unfortunately, the song is too long and this pile of faux-‘80s metal
is pretty lame.
Trip
the Web- 3 Uptempo,
acoustic bluesy pop with lazily drunken Pollard drawl. Not the sharpest hook in the tackle box, and a little cheesy too, but a nice mix of pop meets fucking weird.
They
Called Him So Much- 3 Simple
tune that’s catchy in a nursery rhyme kind of way. But Pollard's bellowing is
so out of tune in the intro, it’s like
listening to your favorite uncle pass a kidney stone. But, he rights his wrongs
with hazy-pop vocal layering. Ambient and meditative.
Keep
It in Orbit- 2 16th notes on the hi-hats with frantic guitar strums. Choppy solos, and
pointed (not-so-poignant) Pollard vocals. Sounds like demoed ‘80s
metal.
What
Am I?- 1 What
a weak closer. Cringe worthy, ‘70s light organ rock that swings
along with some downright terrible Pollard lyrics, and laughable vocal
delivery. Sounds like a bad lounge act in space.
Huh. I like "what am I?" I like the whole album.
ReplyDeletejust listened to this one again. I really like the playing on "They Called him So much." never noticed that before.
ReplyDeletei love "doing the math." incredible guitar work.
ReplyDeleteYeah... Doing the Math.
DeleteI'd definitely recommend giving this a re-listen, brother. It's very much a diamond in the rough. Very nicely recorded and played for the most part, in a mid-fi Pollard kind of way. Polished yet also spontaneous and intimate feeling. What Am I is hilarious and bizarre. They Called Him So Much almost had me in tears thinking back on it 10 years ago. The rest is just as solid as Pollard gets. If anything, I reckon this album signals the new renaissance era of GBV which came with Gillard's return. Kind of like a primer for great things to come.
ReplyDeletespinning this now for the first time in a long while. really holds up. great tunes and bob's voice is in great shape. i like it better than the vast majority of his solo albums.
ReplyDelete