He Rises! Our Union Bellboy
Blue Babbleships Bay
Forever Until It Breaks
Class Clown Spots A UFO
Chain To The Moon
Hang Up And Try Again
Keep It In Motion
Tyson's High School
They And Them
Fighter Pilot
Roll Of The Dice, Kick In The Head
Billy Wire
Worm W/ 7 Broken Hearts
Starfire
Jon The Croc
Fly Baby
All Of This Will Go
The Opposite Continues
Be Impeccable
Lost In Spaces
No Transmission
Frogtoon Music Album Info: Class Clown Spots A Ufo
Published: 05 May 2012, 07:23
2nd GBV Album Recorded With The Reunited Lineup Of Robert Pollard Tobin Sprout Mitch Mitchell Greg Demos And Kevin Fennell. Original Release Date Was To Be 5/22/2012 But It Was Pushed Back Due To The Success Of Let's Go Eat The Factory. Original Release Notes The New Guided By Voices Album Is The Best Thing The Band Has Recorded Since The Last Album By The Legendary Dayton Ohio Rockers. That’s Not Meant Facetiously The Last Thing Guided By Voices Did Was The Rapturously Received Let’s Go Eat The Factory And Class Clown Spots A UFO Ups The Ante Raised By That Stellar Effort Both In Terms Of Recording Fidelity Boring! And Songcraft Not Boring! One Could Argue There’s More Depth And Variety Here Than On Alien Lanes That There Are Better Songs Here Than On Bee Thousand But That’s An Argument No One’s Ever Going To Win At Least Definitively. And This Album Is A Win By Any Definition. Class Clown Is Classic GBV Starting With The Head-Body-Head Combination Of “He Rises Our Union Bellboy ” “Blue Babbleship Bay ” And “Forever Until It Breaks” Before Finishing You Off With The Title Track A Ridiculously Catchy Melodically Complex Shot-Through-With-Melancholia Song That Serves As A Sadder And Wiser Riposte To XTC’s “Making Plans For Nigel” As Performed By The Hollies. And That’s Just The First Four Songs Of A 21-Track Album Clocking In At Just Under 40 Minutes. We’ve Yet To Get To “Keep It In Motion ” A Propulsive Drum-Machine-Driven Pop Song Which Features Acoustic Guitars Strings And Robert Pollard And Tobin Sprout Singing Together In A Way Not Heard Since “14 Cheerleader Coldfront” On 1992’s Propeller. Possibly. Nor Have We Discussed Galvanic Rocker “Jon The Croc ” A Clear Single Candidate Or “Chain To The Moon ” One Of The Saddest And Why Not? Prettiest Songs Pollard Has Ever Written. In Between You Get Wah-Wah Guitar Solos A Wide Range Of Unusual Recording Techniques Of Varying Fidelity And A Generous Helping Of Alien Lanes-Style Snippets. In Fact The Sequencing Of Class Clown Hearkens Back To That Landmark LP—as On Alien Lanes Songs Bleed Into Each Other Fade-Outs Segue Into Fade-Ins Short Bursts Of Melodic Rock “Billy Wire ” “Roll Of The Dice Kick In The Head” Jut Against Somber Chamber Pop “They And Them ” “Starfire” . The Last Song The Anthemic “No Transmission ” If Played At The Proper Volume Will In Fact Blow Your Mind And Your Windows .