****
It sometimes feels as if all rock's possible paradigms were established by
the 1970s and that subsequent generations are really reinventing the
wheel. Nobody who lived through the 1980s hair metal first time around is
buying Darkness albums. Yet Pollard's two decades fronting the
soon-to-split cult indie band Guided By Voices, and in various side
projects, have left a legacy of more than 50 albums and 1,000 songs
that embraces wide influences- punk, psychedelia, the 1960s British beat
boom and weird prog- while suggesting that rock's classic forms have
infinite possibilities. Pollard's solo albums, available in a limited
edition from www.gbv.com, finds new ways to glue together the
components- irresistible hooks, cascading guitars, quasi-meaningless lyrics-
and soars beyond anything currently in the charts. Log on now.
SL. |