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Shredding Paper #7
By John Wenzel

Suitcase: Failed Experiments and Trashed Aircraft
# 6 in the Fading Captain Series
4-CD/100 songs

I don't blame you for cringing the other day when you
saw Suitcase at the record store. "Jesus, another
fucking Guided by Voices album? And a box set too?"
Lead singer Robert Pollard has had this way of putting
out more schlock than usual lately with the rest of
the good stuff. And since it seems like GBV releases
an album every other month, that's a decidedly
negative thing.

Pollard's last solo LP (Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer
Fire Department) was an amazing return to form after
GBV's Do the Collapse revealed itself to be
one-dimensional. Then came the barrage of DtC EP's,
remixes, and singles. The Hold on Hope EP had a few
nice songs, but sounded neutered. The Dayton, Ohio 19
Something & 5 7" left me feeling flat (Bob's solo
4-track songs on the B-side had me wondering if he
still had it in him.)

Well, all you naysayers can hang it up because
Suitcase is a respectable and surprisingly good slab
of music. Containing 100 songs over 4 CD's, this box
set covers the entire range of Bob's musical career in
Dayton, Ohio, from age 16 to the present. With that in
mind, it's definitely not the release you want if
you're just getting into the band. However, (and
probably unlike most people) I would recommend it to
even casual GBV fans, as it provides vivid insights
into Bob's amazing creative process. My advice: listen
to each disc once or twice, then make a mix tape of
whatever strikes you as listenable. I find myself
skipping around a lot when I listen to the discs,
partially because there are some real clunkers hidden
among the half-finished basement gems and grainy live
songs.

As you may have guessed, most of these songs are
previously unreleased and original. I've heard a few
of them on bootleg fan tapes before ("The Terrible
Two," "The Flying Party," "Shit Midas," etc.), and
some are alternate versions or demos. The official
story is that Bob's fabled suitcase of cassettes was
destroyed or damaged, so he felt compelled to release
what he could before the angry gods punished him
again. Being the obsessive GBV completist that I am, I
was simultaneously thrilled and overwhelmed to dive
into this mother. And who wouldn't be? Drunken
seven-minute jams and 30-second acoustic numbers stand
side-by-side with polished studio songs like "Bunco
Men" and "Where I Come From." That's an intimidating
combination. And seemingly, a randomly organized one
(the songs skip around chronologically and
stylistically).

Once your mind begins to process the songs
individually, winners jump out. "Sing It Out" is one
of Bob's tossed-off acoustic tunes, and I'll be damned
if it isn't as good as anything on Bee Thousand or
Alien Lanes. Pollard's vocals on it are absolutely
amazing. "Unshaven Bird" and "A Good Circuitry
Soldier" are suitably bittersweet and melodic. The
uncharacteristically melancholy "I'm Cold" displays
Bob's seldom-heard straightforward lyrical style. "Our
Value of Luxury" defines the White Rock Anthem while
implying Marxist subversion. "Shifting Swift is a
Lift" is so hilariously nonsensical and absurdist I
can't listen to it without laughing out loud. I could
go on, but you get the picturethis friggin' release
has everything. Of course, it's heavy on the lo-fi
side, but that never bothered most GBV fans before.

Extra credit to Luna/Recordhead for the excellent
packaging and colorful booklet. Some of the Fading
Captain Series' releases (of which this is #6) had
substandard, thrown-together packaging. I don't know
why it bugged me so much, but it seemed to hint that
the people in charge didn't care or know better.
Suitcase is filled with old set lists, collages,
pictures, quotes, and copious notes on every song. The
individual song info is great for placing the tune in
context (which album it was recorded for, who played
on it and when, etc.) And the interesting, albeit
self-aggrandizing quotes sum up some of the more
accurate things about Bob's unique songwriting
ability. Everyone knows GBV as the under-appreciated,
Beatles-esque indie-pop collective with crazy lyrics,
but it's kinda cool to read quotes from the New York
Times and Rolling Stone giving Bob his well-deserved
props.