Mag Earwhig!

Matador

By Troy Palmer - Alternative Press July 1997 5 out of 5 fingers

As AP reported a few months ago, GBV didn't exactly vaporize. Obsessive-compulsive muse Robert Pollard presses the member-eject button yet again, retaining brother Jim and Tobin Sprout for a set of sessions which intermingle with songs on which Cleveland's Cobre Verde are Pollard's dominant back-up. This dual line-up retains the overall vibe of the past few releases with a few textural modifications. Continuing recent experimentation with pro studios and production values, Pollard gave Cobre Verde license to load his new cannon with tactile six-string over-dubs and tasteful analog synth (adding mucho tasty tension to "Portable Men's Society"). Cleaver track separation sharpens the precision Ginsu edge of instant classics such as "Little Lines" and "Finest Joke Is Upon Us". The latter track deepens the GBV formula with a compositional complexity Bob would usually break down into three songs, a trend set into conscious motion with Under The Bushes Under The Stars.

Mag Earwhig! stands out among a decade of GBV releases because now Pollard has stitched together a group of ideas into a single unit, where as on an album such as Alien Lanes he mostly split each idea into jingle-length flashes that test listener retention as songs zoom by. Since Pollard allows his new compositions enough time to breathe and sink in, more opportunities for plot twists and inspired progressions open up. Observe "Now To war", an acoustically driven rack of heart soaked kitchen knifes that exudes a quiet menace utterly distinct from the impact of prior pseudo-ballads. It gives me goosebumbs.

Early allegations were indeed true about this album reflecting once-buried Pollard influences such as Amon Duul and enunciating Wire threads among the usual upfront Beatles/Barret/Kinksiness. What most listeners won't expect are two brief flirtations with arena-size gyrations. Dig that pelvis action on "I Am A Tree" and "Bulldog Skin". Mix in a pinch of old time 4-track dementia (the stuff with Jim & Toby) and prime singles ("Little Lines", the powerful "Sad If I Lost It" or passionately detached "Not Behind The Fighter Jet") and you have what could possibly be GBV's masterstroke. In spite of Pollard's enormous back catalog, Mag Earwhig! sounds like Mag Earwhig! and no other album.