Hangin with the Strokes ruined GBV

[lester1/2jr]

it was the kiss of death. Nysnc should never have been allowed within 500 miles of a GBV show. Bob's mid life crisis should be over soon, I hope.

[bitterfruit]

Who says they're dead?

[Squall91]

Apparently lester1/2jr.

[lester1/2jr]

I liked some of the stuff on the last album, but it was "very good" not amazingly great. It's a bit of a shock as a longtime fan to hear him not challenging himself as much. My favorite albums are Waved out , Do the Collapse, that orange seven inch on matador. I like the early stuff too. I like everything except the last two albums weren't that great and Airport 5 is pretty lame. Tobin Sprout was good for about two good songs per GBV album and his own albums aren't much different. I don't have th newest circus devils but actually liked th first one alot.

Also, for future reference

strokes= nysnc

radiohead= backstreet boys.

I forget which is which sometime, so I just use them interchangably.

[jt. r]

how exactly does one challenge oneself? i'm disappointed that you've not concretized your complaint about bob's recent output, particularly because i'm not a big fan of waved out or dtc. so what do you mean? should gbv cover *ege bamyasi*? would that be challenging? certainly. would it make any sense within gbv's oeuvre? not at all.
i'm also not a massive radiohead freakaholic, but they're probably better than say nsnyc from an artistic standpoint. very few of their movements were predictable if not totally original. and the strokes are a fine garage band. there are lots of them and they all sound similar, give or take.
in short: i can't wait for earthquake glue. i find bob's voice reassuring to a certain extent. i hope i can be 66% as productive as i get older.

[Patrick]

Oh please. Next you'll be claiming that hanging with Jimmy Eat World ruined GBV.

Patrick

[Ladt]

I'm just gonna stick up for tobe, cos no one has yet. I think tobe has managed at least 6 brilliant songs on each album he's released, and the rest, while not as good serve to be good and hold the albums together, hence making very very good albums. I don't know if you could even say that of Bob's later stuff. If anything, while Bob has arguably already peaked, I still feel that Tobin is improving as a songwriter, highlighted by his latest effort. I also think Tobin saves the latter half of Bee Thousand. Rant over.

[newspearmint]

this is ridicoulus. first of all pollard/sprout collaaborations are almost always sublime...both airport 5 albums are top..not to mention the b sides. i think its some of bob's best singing. some of it is quite dark.
second of all the strokes are awesome.
and third of all, so is radiohead.

[lester1/2jr]

nsm- wrong on all counts. Airport 5 sucked. The Strokes are pop , no more a "garage" band than the Doors were an avant garde band. I don't know much Radiohead, but they serve the same purpose as they're non guitar oriented brothers in BSB. And the Strokes don't have one song half as good as "Rock your Body".

Bob is going through a mid life crisis. He's left his wife and is desparatly trying to keep up with kids half his age. He's probably bought a camero by now.

[johansen smith]

I think Pollard is just in a lull lately, he'll bounce back eventually, I'm sure of it.

[newspearmint]

She drives camaro.
a lull? airport 5 sucked? you are both reminising for a time that never was. this is the golden age . try to enjoy it.
Circle of Trim, Tower in the Fountain of Sparks, How Brown?, Out in the World...each (and many others from the A5) rank at the top of the sprout/pollard cannon.
The Strokes are pop? yeah and? the point being? The songs are excellent..plus they have cool haircuts. don't hold that against them.

[johansen smith]

"this is the golden age"

*dies laughing*

[Scott Frost]

Originally posted by newspearmint
She drives camaro.
a lull? airport 5 sucked? you are both reminising for a time that never was. this is the golden age . try to enjoy it.
Circle of Trim, Tower in the Fountain of Sparks, How Brown?, Out in the World...each (and many others from the A5) rank at the top of the sprout/pollard cannon.
The Strokes are pop? yeah and? the point being? The songs are excellent..plus they have cool haircuts. don't hold that against them. The whole point of GBV is that every age is the golden age. That's why they're the best band ever. It's possible to be just as in love with B000 as UTAC. And Circle of Trim is a great song. So is Burns Carpenter & Stifled Man Casino & Total Exposure & Natives Approached Our Plane & lots of Airport 5 stuff.

[bitterfruit]

I feel dumb for reading this entire stupid fucking thread and maybe dumber for replying.

[lester1/2jr]

bfruit- totally weak attempt at that kind of "fuck this" post. Get some practice before you try that shit again. Preferably elsewhere. Try a that 70's show board or something.



The Strokes don't have excellent songs.

[tinobeat]

hmmm... sorry lester...

bitterfruit's post is probably the most on-the-mark one in this thread.

"I don't know much Radiohead"

well then don't talk about them, or you look even more like the ignorant creep you're coming across as. I don't care so much for radiohead either, but at least my opinion was formed by hearing the music, not just figuring out which magazines they have interviews in.

and also, GbV is a pop band too. they were on TVT way before they hung with the strokes. Here's the people who brought you Do the Collapse:
http://www.tvtrecords.com/

yeah, totally underground, brobro

Bob's always wanted to be a pop star, get over your "guilty by association" paranoia.

He's doing just great, and he's probably psyched that idiot fans like you have given up on him. less crap to deal with at shows.
grow up, sport

[maroonwalrus]

I don't know much Radiohead, but they serve the same purpose as they're non guitar oriented brothers in BSB.

What? You have no obligation to like Radiohead, but anyone who is at least vaguely familiar with their music probably shouldn't dismiss them as a manufactured pop unit like the Backstreet Boys.

Yes, they're on a major label. And yes, they are very popular. But since when were they slick commercial radio fodder? With a few exceptions for their singles, I usually only hear them on college radio.

There's no intention here of being condescending, but if you say "I don't know much Radiohead," perhaps you shouldn't pass such judgment about them.

Listen to "The Bends" and tell me that's "non guitar oriented."

And what does Radiohead have to do with Guided By Voices anyway?

[lester1/2jr]

let me clarify, I realize radiohead are a million times better than BSB. I just meant if the Strkes ar NSYNC than Radiohead are the Backstreet boys, in terms of image. But I don't think the Strokes are that much better, or really diferent from, Nysnc.

[tinobeat]

Originally posted by lester1/2jr
tino- your arguements suck. If I wasn't so busy fucking your mother between her tits I'd explain it to you.

sweet, brobro! you burned me! high five! you gonna tell all your friends in the Dairy Queen parking lot about how you dissed some dude on the message board today? that'll be raaad.

humor me and explain how my arguments suck. or do you not know? were you too busy coming up with the right zinger to throw at me? mother jokes never fail, champ!

[lester1/2jr]

1. Dairy queen fuckin rocks

2. Someone had called the Strokes a garage band. That is not true. I'm not a garage rock guy, but I'm from Boston. I know what it sounds like. I even played it for a while, and the Strokes aren't it. They sound more like Weezer. I'm not saying it's bad to be a pop band. the Who were a pop band I guess. Fucking beatles.

3. I can talk about whatever I want. When I say don't know much Radiohead, I mean they're not one of my favorite bands. I respect them the way I respect nine inch nails or the grateful dead. Good at what they do.

[tinobeat]

1. Dairy queen fuckin rocks
can't argue there...

2. Someone had called the Strokes a garage band. That is not true. I'm not a garage rock guy, but I'm from Boston. I know what it sounds like. I even played it for a while, and the Strokes aren't it. They sound more like Weezer. I'm not saying it's bad to be a pop band. the Who were a pop band I guess. Fucking beatles.

sorry, next time you should list your credentials as a "garage rock expert" so people don't make that heinous mistake around you again. I'm from Boston too... do we have a bigger garage rock scene than most cities? I never noticed. I mean, yeah, we've got some garage bands (*and* we've got Jeff Connolly, and he's worth about 15 garage bands), but I don't think "being from boston" means "I know garage rock." hmmm... I hadn't heard the one about the strokes sounding like weezer before. and also, most garage bands are "pop" too. if a song's got verses and choruses and hangs out in the neighborhood of 2-4 minutes, its a pop song. its all the same...

3. I can talk about whatever I want. When I say don't know much Radiohead, I mean they're not one of my favorite bands. I respect them the way I respect nine inch nails or the grateful dead. Good at what they do.

of course you can talk about whatever you want, son. That's why we live in america.

back to work...

[bitterfruit]

Originally posted by tinobeat
sweet, brobro! you burned me! high five! you gonna tell all your friends in the Dairy Queen parking lot about how you dissed some dude on the message board today? that'll be raaad.

humor me and explain how my arguments suck. or do you not know? were you too busy coming up with the right zinger to throw at me? mother jokes never fail, champ!


Gees, no shit. Where do we find these guys? They're like fucking dingleberries.

[evil_speakers]

Explain to me how the Strokes have anything to do with what any preceived "problem" with GbV might be? Most people's complaints about Bob and by extension GbV is that he releases too much material, he has no filter on his releases, and the "garbage" or "filler" quotient on these releases is too high. So if that's your angle (lester), then I fail to see how the Strokes have affected Bob's sometimes questionable side projects. Certainly nothing in his Fading Captain output could be considered too slick, or overtly commercial, or in any way influenced by the Strokes in sound, mood, or style.
If your complaint is about GbV proper, then I suppose you could make the case that semi-recent GbV releases on that other, non-Matador label were more commmercial, or even approached "sell-out" territory. As has already been pointed out by tinobeat, GbV joined TVT long before the Strokes were a force to be reckoned with. Also, that phase of his career is nearly 2 records behind us now. I personally very much like both Do the Collapse and Isolation Drills, as well as really enjoying UTAC. So I ask again, what point are you making about whatever you perceive to be Bob's relationship with the Strokes?

[Craig]

For me, GBV's only problem is that Bob, at times, seems to forget what makes him so special, which is writing beautiful melodic pop songs (Smothered in Hugs, Blimps Go 90, 7th Level Shutdown, Underwater Explostions, Dig Through My Window). This is his true bread and butter, not the over-the-top Prog/Big Arena Rock tendencies that have infiltrated his songwriting over the last 6 years.

[Scott Frost]

Originally posted by Craig
For me, GBV's only problem is that Bob, at times, seems to forget what makes him so special, which is writing beautiful melodic pop songs (Smothered in Hugs, Blimps Go 90, 7th Level Shutdown, Underwater Explostions, Dig Through My Window). This is his true bread and butter, not the over-the-top Prog/Big Arena Rock tendencies that have infiltrated his songwriting over the last 6 years. 1) Have you ever heard Cheyenne, Everywhere with Helicopter, Kickboxer Lightning, Fair Touching, Chasing Heather Crazy, Glad Girls, Frequent Weaver Who Burns, Stifled Man Casino? Bob has not lost his knack for pop songs. In fact, his recent ones are as good as any he's ever recorded; 2) The so-called prog-rock songs - Christian Animation Torch Carriers, Storm Vibrations, the Enemy, Twilight Campfighter, etc. - are just freaking amazing; 3) Why can't people get it into their heads Bob is not going to do Bee Thousand 2 or Alien Lanes 2. Most artists don't develop or change. Thank God Bob/GBV does.

[johansen smith]

this thread is hilarious.

[Craig]

I never said that Pollard lost his knack for anything. The guy is still one of the best songwriters on the planet. I have nothing against someone wanting to evolve as an artist. For all I care, Pollard can go out and form a mariachi band. I'll just stop listening.

I just don't care for the Skin Parade/In Stitches type of songs that, in my opinion, weighed down some of his recent releases. Just an opinion......

[Squall91]

Originally posted by johansen smith
this thread is hilarious. Yeah, I concur, and it really made my day as well. Next to the PGMG mp3, of course.

[newspearmint]

in stitches is probably one of my least favorite, too..but what about that 'busted bottle red wine' part? that is superb!
anyway, i think based on the amount of output, there will always be some ones you like less than others. But its not a sign of decline. Its the way its always been. Pollard is king

[lester1/2jr]

I agree with Craig. and those songs are better live too I think. Even though the newer ones are supposed to be "huge". "Tractor Rape Chain" is huge ya know? I like all the songs scott listed, but ... I think he should get back with the more middle aged guys. the vibe now is too serious, less humoress.

[Patrick]

This thread really isn't about the Strokes hanging out with GBV anymore ... and I'm closing it. time to move on folks!

Patrick