Another uncommercial selection for my top 10 list. Whereas I wore out the needle with the others, I wore out the laser on my CD player with this one. If you find yourself in a rut these days, give this a listen for free on Youtube.
Released in a year that saw releases from Soundgarden, Oasis, Green Day, Beck, REM, Pearl Jam, Pink Floyd, and Nirvana, this disc punched above its weight and found itself in Spin’s top 10 albums of 1994, The Village Voice’s album of the year, Guitar World’s 6th most iconic record of the 1990’s, and Rolling Stone Magazines best 100 albums of the 1990’s.
When Monty Python called for “something completely different”, Bee Thousand is what they had in mind.
Guided by Voices (we devoted fans simply say “GBV”) is an indie rock band from Dayton Ohio and Robert Pollard is the front man and principle song writer. Formed in 1983, they are the type of band that subsequent songwriters credit as a major influence.
In a nutshell, Pollard says their music adheres to the four “P’s” : pop, progressive, psychedelia, punk
Bee Thousand is a low budget masterpiece recorded on a four track and mixed in a most unsophisticated way. It is a garage band album because it was literally recorded in the garage.
The disc contains 20 songs, all but 7 of which are under two minutes long. Each song contains at least 2 killer hooks that are unique, “up-to-the-minute” fresh, memorable, and utterly musical. This is the Beatles, Bowie, Doors, Buddy Holly, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed all wrapped into one.
To fully appreciate the dysfunction, quirkiness, and genius of the songwriting, the disc should be listened to in one sitting. Make no mistake, Bee Thousand is about songwriting and not musicianship.
The album starts off with “Hardcore UFO’s” that has Pollard sitting on the porch looking for UFO’s. The song is less than 2 minutes but tells you all you need to know about what to expect from this record.
“Tractor Rape Chain” is a 3 minute pop ballad about a decaying relationship that starts off with the line “Why is it every time I think about you, something that you have said or implied makes me doubt you?”. The electric guitar is grungy but the vocal is clear, crisp, and immensely listenable.
“Hot Freaks” is what would happen if Iggy Pop co-wrote a duet with Jim Morrison and is a track that just never gets old. “Took me to the new church and baptized me with salt. She told me “liquor”. I am a new man.”
“Echos Myron” is another pop gem with a head bopping beat (side to side rather than up and down), bubble gum melody, and grown up lyrics. …”Tower to the skies, an academy of lies, and what goes up surely must come down…Men of wisdom and men of compromise. Men of weak flesh in an armored disguise, All fall down”.
The second side is filled with many Tobin Sprout compositions who was the other influential song writer on this record. His numbers were more dreamy and acoustic but always memorable and hummable. Standouts are Mincer Ray, Awful Bliss, and Ester’s Day. The latter is a beautiful acoustic ballad logging in at 1:51 minutes and packing a pop punch. Think Jayhawks or America but stripped and unproduced. “…Brought up on the road a sparkle shiny diner is the home for wayward minor. In a flying car that seems to whisper in an ear, “Let’s just go, get out of here”.
“I Am a Scientist” is a track Lou Reed or David Bowie would have given their left nut to have written.
“I am a scientist, I seek to understand me All of my impurities and evils yet unknown. I am a journalist, I write to you to show you I am an incurable, and nothing else behaves like me. I am a pharmacist, prescriptions, I will fill you Potions, pills, and medicines to ease your painful lives.
I saw GBV at a one night only gig at Irving Plaza in NYC sometime in the late 1990’s. Susan accepted my invitation for our very first concert date. Despite being standing room only with warm beer served in plastic cups, Susan never once asked to leave early. There was never a better indication for me not to let her go.
“I am a lost soul, I shoot myself with rock and roll, the hole I dig is bottomless but nothing else can set me free”. (with fist pumping)…GBV- GBV- GBV !!