Craig Reptile: Your Sunday Sonic Sundowner writesGuided by Voices Take Over Metro on Saturday Sept. 3!

[photo by Matt Davis]

by Craig Bechtel

Guided By Voices are back!  Given that Robert Pollard is, and always has been the only constant member of Dayton Ohio’s GBV, it’s a fair question to wonder how any but the most hardcore fans will recognize the difference between this latest incarnation and any of the previous versions, not to mention delineating the distinctions between Pollard’s prolific solo output and his innumerable side projects.  And this is coming from someone who’s listened to every Guided By Voices official release and most released under Pollard’s own name.

For the uninitiated, GBV are the best band you’ve never heard, who at their best sound like the weirdest, best Who songs in demo form and at their worst sound like the worst demos by Yes or Ween.  Given that the volume of their discography can be intimidating (Pollard once released a 28 song “best of” just his solo material from 2010 to 2011, entitled, rather fittingly, The Kids Eat It Up, but didn’t slow down in 2012, releasing two solo albums and THREE Guided By Voices records) and despite moments (usually characteristically brief) of brilliance throughout their recorded output, the best places to start are still their breakthrough Bee Thousand (Scat, 1994) and the follow-up, Alien Lanes (Matador, 1995).

Distinguishing between the band and the man (whose rabid fans sometimes affectionately call “Uncle Bob”) became even more difficult when the latest GBV record came out, entitled Please Be Honest, on which Pollard wrote all the songs and played all the instruments.  Thankfully, he will have a real band behind him on this tour to support his legendarily prodigious alcohol consumption (that’s him actually drinking a beer in the most recent press photo) and trademark leg kicks, including Kevin March on drums, Mark Shue on bass, Bobby Bare Jr. on guitar and most notably, the return of guitarist Doug Gillard. In addition to surviving a previous stint with Dayton’s most infamous indie rockers, Gillard has played with fellow Ohio rock legends Death of Samantha, Cobra Verde and My Dad Is Dead, and Pollard has called him one of his favorite guitarists, if not his most favorite.

Given that Robert Pollard is one of the most prolific songwriters of modern time (he has over 2,000 songs registered through BMI), it’s a fun exercise to think of songs he hasn’t written and to use the GBV song title generator, as we’ve done previously here. But for the real, live experience on Saturday night, Guided By Voices will be “amplified to rock” Chicago’s Metro in an 18+ show (kids may “eat it up,” but they should not witness this much drinking).  The band is touring with Broncho and Split Single, featuring Chicago area native Jason Narducy (Jason and Alison, Verbow, Bob Mould Band) start the night off at 7:30 pm.