Dirt Culture Magazine
GawdamAdam

Robert Pollard and his Soft Rock Renegades
Choreographed Man Of War
#14 in the Fading Captain Series

If Robert Pollard had decided only to release the first four tracks on CMOW as an ep or something, it would have been plenty. Pollard’s brilliance shines through immensely on these tracks, and once again the guru shows that in twelve short minutes, he can out-do any pop, rock, or any other songsmith, living or dead. But, luckily, for those of us who live, breathe, eat and sleep all things Pollard, this is a brand fucking new full-length, with guests Greg Demos and Jim MacPherson on bass/guitar and drums respectively. The reason I’ve pointed out these first four tracks is that, although the rest of the record is just as great as any GbV record, these tracks are the record’s strongest. Why I Drove a Tank starts the record off. I was fortunate enough to have heard this track three times live already. Although the studio version doesn’t rock quite as balls-out as the live take, this is still one great song. This is one that I hope Pollard decides to re-visit on a GbV record someday, as a bit of a tighter production job would be beneficial. She Saw the Shadow follows up. This is a bit of a dark, creepy song for Pollard. An instant classic. Next comes Edison’s Memos, a more traditional GbV sounding tune. Next is my favorite track on the record, 7^th Level Shutdown. This is a beautiful song, dealing with regret and the downside of forgetting what you did last night. I’ve played this track over and over, and it doesn’t look like I’ll be getting bored with it any time soon. The rest of the record has its ups and downs, but anyone who’s a fan will no doubt be spinning this disc non-stop until they pick up the next project Pollard pumps out. (GawdamAdam)