Pop Rocks!: Episode 4.3

So, you probably know that I am obsessed with Guided by Voices. They're a band that, from time to time (at least four months out of the year) I obsessively listen to and explore. Every week I'm obsessed with a new song. Last week it was "Closets of Henry," this week it's "Paper Girl" and "Pantherz." I like "Pantherz" because it is the first chapter in an aborted story. The story goes, GBV were going to record their first record (well, at least after achieving success) in a real studio. It was a concept record called The Power of Suck about the band's rise to fame and Kim Deal was going to produce it. They recorded most of the songs before Bob Pollard decided to shitcan it. This decision was made mostly because Kim wanted to take her time (as she is a very patient person) and Bob, being very impatient, couldn't deal with it (har har har) and got bored and they got in a huge fight but he still gave her "I am Decided," which she recorded with the Amps (both versions of this song are amazing). A bunch of the tracks ended up on Under the Bushes Under the Stars but ultimately, the concept record was trashed.

The concept, though, is intriguing. It's the history of Guided by Voices up til 1995 or 1996 through Bob Pollard's brain. This band goes through numerous name changes, one being Pantherz and this is when they start getting big. The greatest thing, though, aside from the song being fucking amazing, is that it has CONTEXT. In "Pantherz" they use the riff that you will eventually hear on "Don't Stop Now," but instead of it being played with those huge cellos, it's a little guitar riff. "She said hey look over there, there's a car on fire!" God I love that line. Anyway, so the band goes through all this shit and they get kind of big. At the end they've changed their name, they're King Shit and the Golden Boys and you see how far they've come with "Don't Stop Now." They're out of the garage, now in the studio backed by a strings section, yet they haven't sacrificed anything. You realize that the riff, whether it's played on a little guitar or a huge orchestra is a great riff, regardless. "Don't Stop Now," in my opinion, is one of the greatest songs ever written. A masterpiece. A song I want played at my funeral, the song GBV closed their career with on stage in Chicago on New Years Eve in 2004.

Anyway, as you can see I'm gushing. I've had conversations this past year about whether or not it's ethical to have a favorite band and I can really see both sides of the argument. Personally, I'm ok with having one. GBV are the one band that are ALWAYS going to be there for me and even though Bob Pollard has written his fair share of shit, in the grand scheme of things it all works out. They are the perfect band. That's why at the end of every semester I close every radio show with a 20 or 30 minute set of Guided by Voices and I almost always close with "Don't Stop Now" (and edited version, of course).

Guided by Voices - Pantherz (The Power of Suck)
The New Pornographers - High Art Local News
Flop - Anne
Portastatic - Through With People (Bright Ideas)
The Weakerthans - Tournament of Hearts (Reunion Tour)
Vivian Girls - Wild Eyes (Vivian Girls)
Black Tambourine - We Can't Be Friends (Complete Recordings)
Dream Bitches - Bad Luck Bill (Coke-and-Spiriters)
The Pixies - Gigantic (Surfer Rosa) (requesed by all the cool kids down at the Herbarium)
The Breeders - It's the Love (Mountain Battles)
Robert Pollard - Dancing Girls and Dancing Men (From a Compound Eye)
Major Matt Mason USA - Animal Shelter
Pony Up! - The Truth About Cats and Dogs is that they Die (Make Love to the Judges With Your

Eyes)
Karl Blau - Slow Down Joe (Beneath Waves)
Mirah - Make it Hot (Advisory Committee)
The Microphones - Don't Smoke (Two Songs by the Microphones)
Beat Happening - Our Secret (Beat Happening)
Herman Dune - 1-2-3/Apple Tree (1-2-3 Apple Tree)
Tall Dwarfs - Mr. Brocolli (Weeville)
Guided by Voices - Paper Girl (Self Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia)
Jeff Mangum - My Dreamgirl Don't Exist (Live at Aquarius Records)
Fruit Bats - The Earthquake of '73 (Spelled in Bones)
Beirut - My Night with a Prostitute From Marseille
The Magnetic Fields - Yeah! Oh, Yeah! (69 Love Songs)
Urusei Yatsura - Hello Tiger (Slain by Urusei Yatsura)
International Language - This is Where the Strings Come in (Where the Bands Are)
Kleenex Girl Wonder - Now, I got a Feeling (Ponyoak)
Love is All - Make Out Fall Out Make Up (9 Times That Same Song)
Why? - These Few Presidents (Alopecia)
Matthew Friedberger - The Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co. Resignation Letter (Winter Women)
Wolfie - Waiting For the Night to End (Tall Dark Hill)
Rocketship - Naomi and Me (A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness)
Los Campesinos! - Don't Tell Me to Do the Math(s) (Hold On Now, Youngster...)
Heavenly - P.U.N.K. Girl
Voxtrot - Raised by Wolves (Raised by Wolves EP)