Joe Zibell review of Do The Collapse

Joe Zibell

Guided By Voices
Do The Collapse
TVT

Not Your Average Middle Age Rock Star

by Joe Zibell

The word back from the front indicates some mixed reactions to Guided By
Voices latest offering, "Do The Collapse." Phrases like "mainstream" and
"hi-fi" dot the landscapes of reviews and responses to songwriter Robert
Pollard's recent addition to his mile-long discography. Longtime fans of the
Dayton-based rock band have been suspicious of Pollard's recent evolution
from a basement dwelling indie songster making music "for all the right reasons,"
to a mature artist interested in fine-tuning his product. Some critics are just grateful that
the tape hisses and crackles of earlier recordings are on hiatus. I for one
enjoy the authenticity of previous home recordings by Pollard and Co., but
I'm going to venture that the latest installment in the GBV saga is a
triumph, even if it isn't as eccentric, and is far more accessible, than
previous albums.

Backed by arguably his most musically proficient band, including guitarist
Doug Gillard and drummer Jim MacPherson (The Breeders), Pollard also hired
Ric Ocasek (The Cars) to produce the album and give it a bigger sound.
Mission accomplished. Most of the songs here are radio-ready; it's just that
rock n' roll fused with Beatle-ish melodies and a subtle, underlying punk
rock ethos isn't grabbing too many listeners these days. And that's too bad,
because this band can play with the best of them.

Moving away from the more experimental, and possibly more rewarding, solo
albums of the past several years, "Do The Collapse" harnesses Pollard's
uncanny ability to write a great hook on the spot and infuse it with his
sometimes-bizarre, often-cryptic, but always-entertaining lyrics. In truth,
his lyrical work is still on the outer periphery of the ozone layer, but here it's
easier to comprehend than much of his previous writing. In the song "Hold on Hope," the album's most
obvious bid for airplay, he declares with a certain amount of vulnerability:
"Everybody's got a hold on hope/It's the last thing that's holding me." Such
directness is usually non-existent in his catalog. And my friend's right, it
does sound, for better or worse, a bit like Oasis, further evidence of the
boost in sound quality.

Where this album suceeds the most is in its ability to provide tasty ear
candy in the form of power-pop ("Teenage FBI", "Surgical Focus"), and
simultaneously give a fair dose of Pollard exploring song-structures,
verse-chourus changes, and musical tangents ("In Stiches," "Liquid Indian").
And in some cases everything comes together and breaks new ground for the artist,
and lets the listener in for free. Two examples: "Things That I Will Keep," which is
impressive for both the subtle changes within the song and the near-
perfect delivery of the lyrics; and the ironically titled, "Picture Me Big
Time."

However, Pollard's greatest asset may be his ability to make the simplest
of statments appear transcendent. Seemingly, he can accomplish more in 1:30
than most can muster on an entire album. The acoustic "Dragons Awake" is
simple enough for even the most inexperienced of guitarists to take a stab
at, but to create the feel and nuances of his performance is a bit more
difficult to accomplish. "Do the Collapse" offers enough of these moments to
make even the most ardent "old-school" GBV fan grin a bit.

Buried somewhere in the middle of an old EP, Pollard once exclaimed in a
smoke-filled basement, "Look at me, I'm stabbing a star." Maybe this is what
he was singing about. Going from indie icon to a dabbler in the mainstream,
Pollard is reminding us of rock n'roll's most fundamental element: having
fun.