The Brain
Rob Devlin

Airport 5
Tower in the Fountain of Sparks
#15 in the Fading Captain Series

#15 in the Fading Captain Series, this release from Airport 5 is the first LP Rob Pollard has recorded with Tobin Sprout since the latter left Guided By Voices to focus on his solo career. Given those key pieces of information, one could probably form a pretty solid preconception about the sound of this record and what they might find when listening to it. Let's face it: Pollard is one of those artists that you either love or despise. So those who don't like any of Pollard's music with Guided By Voices or the plethora of other bands he's in, skip right over this review. The other camp will be happy to know that these two artists still make magic together, and it's in rare form all over this release. From the first track, "Burns Carpenter, Man Of Science," you're drawn in to that weird land where anything is possible, at least lyrically speaking. And it's an amazing thing, considering that the music and words were recorded separately (possibly even written separately). Sprout is an amazingly talented musician, capable of playing all the components that make up your average band structure, and writing melodies that hold great hooks and fantastic twists and variations. And Pollard is just plain weird. Any man who writes songs about bright paper werewolves or scientists creating liquid forms of love has some issues to resolve. But together it makes for fascinating music, as it has in the past. I'm glad theses two musicians are working together again, because these initial results are proof that those combination still works. I hope to hear more from Airport 5 soon.