No one can accuse Robert Pollard of being unproductive. Since Guided by Voices called it quits last year, he's already released a 70-minute solo album and, this month, the fruits of three collaborative projects, credited to the Keene Brothers, Psycho and the Birds, and the Takeovers. Pollard's greatest weakness has always been an inability to judge his own material-- really, would those 30-track GbV albums have suffered from some pruning-- and on these three releases, the prolific songwriter is still smuggling his pop jewels in some seriously mixed bags. The problem, though, is that-- even though all three albums are under 40 minutes-- those jewels are fewer and farther between.
The Keene Brothers is a partnership between the ex-GbV man with Tommy Keene, who handled guitar duties on Pollard's recent solo turn, From a Compound Eye. It's by far the cleanest, crispest, and most cohesive of the three records, but between its glistening studio veneer and penchant for catchy melodies, Blues often comes off as the missing link between indie rock and adult contemporary. Pollard's characteristically opaque wordplay and the aching sincerity in his delivery rescues the material from becoming too schmaltzy. Sonic influences are drawn from the ringing chords of Big Star-inspired power-pop, as on "Island of Lost Lucys", or have a classic rock feel-- they even nick the intro to the Who's "Pinball Wizard" on "This Time Do You Feel It?"
Psycho and the Birds, on the other hand, is a slapdash collection that Pollard completed with Compound Eye's producer Todd Tobias. Allegedly, All That Is Holy was pieced together by Pollard sending Tobias "boombox style" recordings, who then added overdubs to the skeletal compositions. But there's no trace of the calculation and subtlety implied by the band's Hitchcockian moniker in this remote approach, as Pollard's voice disappears in hiss and drums occasionally strain to sync with erratic guitar strums.
The Takeovers' Turn to Red has the distinction of at once containing the most inspired and annoyingly throwaway tracks of the three albums. Joining forces with Quasi's Sam Coomes, Mudhoney's Dan Peters, and GbV bassist Chris Slusarenko, Pollard and company only occasionally deliver on the indie supergroup's potential. "Insane/Cool It" is a rough and chugging garage rocker, complete with a mesmerizingly spastic guitar solo that calls to mind Lou Reed's "free jazz" freak-outs. "Fairly Blacking Out" explores similar territory, as Pollard taunts trustafarian scenesters over clanging strums and a burbling bass line. But much of the album is fattened up with filler, from inconsequential acoustic numbers to Pollard's minute-long a cappella "Wig Stomper", recorded off of cell phone voicemail.
Even though Pollard's collaborators vary drastically on each of these releases, the finished results are all unmistakably his own. Fans will be pleased to find that, throughout all three albums, his songwriting voice is never compromised-- even when it could have benefited from some grounding input and quality control.
