Bob Pollard isn't mainstream, and neither is the music of Guided by Voices (GBV) for that matter, but something about the band's recent song "Glad Girls" has caught the ears of the populace.
"It's crazy," Pollard contends. "I mean it's just a pop song. I don't know how to really write a hit from todays standards--I'm a sixties kind of guy.
Over the past twenty years nearly 40 different musicians have found their way in and out of the indie band. The only steady fixture has been Bob Pollard, lead singer, primary song writer and undisputed lifeblood of GBV, who only gave up his day job as an elementary school teacher in 1994. Prior to then, finding a GBV album at the local mall was nearly impossible. But seven years ago after the production of Vampire on Titus and Bec Thousand, the ever-changing band from Ohio has gained more mainstream respect than their humble beginings portended.
Six albums, including a five disc box set, two new labels and some radio airplay later, GBV still hasn't been inducted into the seemingly exclusive fraternity of popular music.
Pollard mourns the path music has taken in the past decade -- the superficiality and the lack of good lyricists among the most popular bands on the scene. His consolation lies only in the fact that he truly and honestly believes that "There will always be good rock in the underground, but people are going to have to dig for it and be diligent consumers."
Though they may not be main stream, and they may claim they don't want to be, Guided by Voices have a staying power and a strong enough following that odds are they will be around longer than their colleagues playing the Y 100 festival, whom Pollard is none too fond of, but curious to investigate.
"I heard the new Weezer album, and well it is what it is--bubble gum pop, but basically it sounds good. I want to check them out at the show and to tell you the truth I'm not really sure who else is playing the festival with us.
He most likely won't be overjoyed with the line up of LifeHouse, Vertical Horizon and G Love and Special Sauce. The whole line-up seems to fit the mold of everything Pollard thinks is wrong with the state of rock and roll.
"I'm appalled by the kind of music on the radio today. For that generic wimp rock to become something that sells the most records doesn't say much about the state of the industry. I just want to see something better out there."
Yes, the current state of the music industry is something critics and musicians love to debate, with little concrete evidence and a lot of back and forth episodes of blame -- but Pollard isn't playing the blame game about the decline of good music, or about the fact that Guided by Voices, though bathed in critical success, has yet to gain significant attention. All Pollard wants is to find an album worth listening to.
"The formula for pop songs is just about the sound. Lyrically I haven't heard anything that is very inspiring. I think the lyrics used to be phenomenal, but people aren't interested in great lyrics anymore."
But what goes into the quinntessential "great" and mind blowing lyrics?
"For me," Pollard says as he pauses, perhaps remembering the lines to one of those ingeniously written rock songs of years gone by. "The best lyrics are written from imagery and color and less literal, but hey thats just a personal preference."
