The Releases: English Little League (LP—GBVi, 2013) / Down by the Racetrack (EP—GBVi, 2013) / Flunky Minnows (Single—GBVi, 2013) / Islands (She Talks in Rainbows) (Single—GBVi, 2013) / Trash Can Full of Nails (Single—GBVi, 2013) / Xeno Pariah (Single—GBVi, 2013) / Noble Insect (Single—GBVi, 2013)
In a 2021 Catalog Crawl feature, I cited 2013’s English Little League as “the least-inspired set from Guided by Voices in some time.” I then proceeded to focus that critique a bit by citing Robert Pollard’s pair of strong solo records from the same year as evidence that his interest in the ‘classic lineup’ reunion may have in fact been waning. Four years later, I largely stand by that assessment; though I do feel like a single paragraph in a piece that focused on the (then) thirty-five albums in the GBV catalog didn’t exactly provide much room for nuance to the argument that I was making.
Sure English Little League probably was the least-inspired GBV record in ages. Keep in mind that there had been a seven-year hiatus in the interim. And more importantly, the closest thing to a ‘dud’ in the GBV catalog to date—at least in my mind—was 1999’s Do the Collapse: an album that even I’ll admit was plenty inspired, but just not in a direction that I felt played to Robert Pollard’s strengths as a songwriter. Lastly, while those 2013 Pollard solo joints (particularly Honey Locust Honky Tonk) were good, it’s not like his solo career was exactly a model of inconsistency—pretty much every year from 1996 on found him releasing at least one solid solo LP, regardless of whatever GBV were up to at the time.
But with all that said, English Little League still comes off a bit flat. As I’ve established over the previous few weeks, I’m a real fan of the first three reunion era albums—even the divisive Let’s Go Eat the Factory. And, over the course of those LPs, the classic lineup seemed to be gaining momentum. And while Robert Pollard appears utterly incapable of pumping the brakes, it does feel as if Guided by Voices are starting to coast on their momentum throughout English Little League.
The first sign that something was amiss came with Down by the Racetrack—released just two months after The Bears for Lunch, in January 2013. While a six-song EP from the personnel that had largely worked together on Static Airplane Jive and Fast Japanese Spin Cycle sounds like GBV fan’s dream come true, Racetrack felt frustratingly underdeveloped. Even the weaker among the ‘golden era’ EPs housed a “Matter Eater Lad,” a “Melted Pat,” or a “Shocker in Gloomtown.” However, Racetrack is mostly composed of half-formed ideas that Pollard clearly didn’t view as substantive enough for a proper LP. It’s never outright bad, but it rarely feels all that essential.
After Down by the Racetrack, GBV began trickling out their new record with a series of five singles, beginning in February with “Flunky Minnows.” Each range from good to excellent. In fact, they might line up as my five favorite songs from English Little League. The least of them, “Trash Can Full of Nails,” is a solid prog rocker that sounds a little mismatched as a single, but works better in the context of the LP. “Flunky Minnows” and “Xeno Pariah” are big, hooky pop tracks; granted, neither of them exactly ascend to the pantheon of great GBV singles. “Noble Insect” proved to be the most divisive one of the bunch: Pitchfork blasted the track in their largely-positive review of English Little League; I eventually grew to enjoy its moody R.E.M.-isms.
Of those five pre-album singles—and of the entire seventeen track LP—the lone unqualified gem was “Islands (She Talks in Rainbows).” Its verses drift on an ethereal melody, with chugging and jangly guitars buried in the mix—combining to provide a depth of production not usually associated with Guided by Voices. It’s great; dreamy even. And then, the chorus just soars with one of the loveliest melodies from any era of GBV. It’s fantastic. It’s the highlight of the album. And it’s a Tobin Sprout song: his first GBV A-side.
And this is where I turn this thing into an appreciation piece for Robert Pollard’s greatest collaborative partner. I know that by saying this I’m upsetting a lot of folks on Team Gillard; and look, Doug Gillard has been a great contributor to Guided by Voices for a very long time. I’m not a “classic lineup or bust” GBV fan. I think Mag Earwhig, Isolation Drills, and Earthquake Glue are all outstanding records; and Doug is essential to all of them. It’s just that, as a songwriter, Tobin Sprout proved to be both a foil and a perfect counterpart to Bob Pollard. Even in his best moments, Sprout couldn’t match Pollard hook for hook—good luck finding anyone who can—but his time in Guided by Voices coincides with Pollard’s greatest song craft.
Think about it this way: when Doug Gillard is in GBV, they are a good-to-great rock band; and when Tobin Sprout was in GBV, they were a good-to-legendary pop group. Sure, there isn’t a perfectly clean delineation between these things. “The Best of Jill Hives” is a phenomenal pop song; “Motor Away” is a transcendent rock anthem; and live GBV of any era had the capacity to blow any other band off the stage. But still, when Bob Pollard is paired with either Tobin Sprout or Doug Gillard in Guided by Voices—as he essentially has been since Propeller—he tends to be pulled in somewhat different directions. And, if forced to make a choice between those two modes, I am emphatically on Team Sprout.
And good ol’ Toby was in fine form throughout the reunion era. “Waving at Airplanes,” “Waves,” and “Ticket to Hide” were among the finest tracks on their respective albums. With B-sides alone he contributed gems like “As the Girls Sing Downing,” “Breathing,” “She Wore Blue and Green,” and “Build a Better Iceberg” (the latter two are arguably the best B-sides of the English Little League singles). For all of the deserved fawning over golden era Sprout gems like “Little Whirl” and “Awful Bliss,” the reunion years found the gap between Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout significantly narrower than it had been during GBV’s heyday.
And in Tobin Sprout, one can find a similarly improbable case study of rock and roll ‘stardom’ as that of Bob Pollard. While Pollard eventually leaned into his own legend, Sprout remained an almost fascinatingly-unassuming inheritor of the spotlight. Two years Pollard’s senior, Sprout has largely maintained a living as a graphic designer/artist; though his plain-clothed stage appearance—and his regrettably conservative-leaning politics—don’t exactly scream “artsy weirdo.” If anything, the straight-laced Sprout almost comes off as a white-collar professional participating in some kind of “indie rock fantasy camp” whenever he takes the stage with Guided by Voices.
And therein lies another part of what makes Sprout’s presence in GBV so charming: the fact that this decidedly ‘regular guy’ with an almost child-like voice can pen these sugary sweet melodies; ones that don’t wilt when placed next to the highest highs from one of the most idiosyncratic geniuses that pop music has ever produced. If Bob Pollard is Exhibit A in the argument that pop greatness can come from just about anywhere, Tobin Sprout is evidence that just about anyone can be a valuable accessory to that greatness. Both of these guys broke the rock star mold. And both of them did their best work in tandem.
And if you’re reading this, you’re probably aware of the fact that the classic lineup reunion wouldn’t last for much longer; in fact, Robert Pollard would break up GBV a second time, only to return a couple of years later with a solo record in GBV clothing—inaugurating a new phase for the group that continues to this day. But aside from the acrimonious dismissal of drummer Kevin Fennell—which happened at some point during the making of English Little League‘s follow-up, 2014’s Motivational Jumpsuit—little has been said regarding the circumstances that led to the classic lineup packing it in.
And in the absence of concrete information, speculation is bound to take hold. While I’d like to believe that Robert Pollard finds Tobin Sprout’s aforementioned political leanings distasteful—Pollard is, by all accounts and appearances, left-leaning—I’d also like to think that the two men who sang together in perfectly imperfect harmony on “Fourteen Cheerleader Coldfront” might find a way to collaborate again in Guided by Voices. And even though the younger of the two is a spry sixty-seven years old, I’d also like to believe that they still could recapture some of the old magic. After all, everything in this band’s story is already just so damned improbable.
Ratings: English Little League (7.0) / Down by the Racetrack (6.3) / Flunky Minnows (★★★★) / Islands (She Talks in Rainbows) (★★★★1/2) / Trash Can Full of Nails (★★★1/2) / Xeno Pariah (★★★★) / Noble Insect (★★★★)*
*Singles are star-rated by their A-side; albums and EPs use the “Russman Reviews” scale.
Bob-ism of the Week: “Everything is wonderful and microscopes are fun / The younger diamonds hate your terminology / It’s just their honesty” (“Flunky Minnows”)
Next Week: The classic lineup starts to fracture again, but remains plenty productive regardless.
