Robert Pollard: 3 New Albums In The Fading Captain Series

Keene Brothers
Blues And Boogie Shoes
#42 In The Fading Captain Series [2006]










Psycho And The Birds
All That Is Holy
#41 In The Fading Captain Series [2006]










The Takeovers
Turn To Red
#40 In The Fading Captain Series [2006]









So you thought when Mr. Pollard retired Guided By Voices that he would slow down, sip his Rolling Rock at home, and enjoy the good life. Wrong. Instead he continues to crank out album after album with ease. What we get now following the heels of his excellent solo record From A Compound Eye [2006] is three new albums from the Fading Captain Series all under different monikers.

First we have the Keene Brothers which teams Robert and his current guitar and keyboard player for his live band Tommy Keene (Tommy currently has 10 solo albums to his name). This makes for a great combo of power pop tracks. Every song has a full range of sound and is well produced. It is a very catchy record and showcases Pollard's harmonies in front of great instrumentation. I believe it represents the Pollard of now and is the strongest of the three releases.

Next up is Psycho And The Birds. All That Is Holy finds Bob sitting in front of his 4 track tape deck and completing an entire album. He then sent the recordings to Todd Tobias, which crafted them into the final product. What happens here is that the instruments play in the front and drive each song which leave Pollard's lyrics somewhat behind the mask of music. All of these tracks are short (longest is 2:43) and concise. Each is the typical Pollard explosion of great ideas only to end after a minute. This album represents very closely to early GBV recordings which is a nice flashback to how things used to be.

Lastly, The Takeovers Turn To Red is the album that bridges the other two releases. Former GBV bass player Chris Slusarenko received the task of creating an album of songs for Pollard to sprinkle his lyrical magic over. This album has it all - some loud guitars, some weird cell phone tidbits, and even a little piano. Turn To Red fluctuates between lo-fi and hi-fi which is most comparable to Bob's early solo albums. The best part is that it works - The Takeovers flows very well and never loses the listener.

It is quite amazing that now matter how many releases Pollard puts out that he always tries something a bit new and gives everyone he has ever worked with a shot at a reunion. If this trend continues get ready for 5 more albums next month, and 5 more the month after, - well you get the picture.

Key Tracks:
Keene Brothers: "Island Of Lost Lucy", "Death Of The Party"
Psycho And The Birds: "Jesus The Clockwork", "Late Night Scamerica"
The Takeovers: "Insane/Cool It", "Fairly Blacking Out"

Bands With Similar Fire:
The Finn Brothers
Early Guided By Voices
The Beatles

Official Robert Pollard Website

-Reviewed by Christopher Anthony