The legend of Bob Pollard the man seems to be as enduring as Bob Pollard the music. He survived countless Guided By Voices lineup changes, a spoken word album, and the supposed end of GBV back in 2004. For a guy like Pollard, known for moving at a one song per-minute rate for much of his career, the ‘end’ of GBV wasn’t cause for reflection, it was cause to record a whole bunch of new music, both under his own name and as the principal songwriter for Boston Spaceships. With or without GBV it seems he would’ve continued recording material at a breakneck pace, and this, coupled with the fact that GBV was essentially a revolving door or contributors anyway begs the question, was another record necessary?
Almost any purist will tell you that there had been a decline in quality since the late 90’s, that Uncle Bob and the boys lost some of that skuzzy, high voltage energy that was borne out of countless dank bars and basements in the Dayton, OH area, and had come to characterize their sound. 2002’s Isolation Drills and Universal Truths and Cycles were, by GBV standards, highly refined and devoid of much of the ramshackle energy that had once been so essential to the band. Thankfully then Let’s Go Eat the Factory is a reunion of the members who brought us some of the hardest hitting, roughest cuts GBV ever produced. Anyone who remembers Bee Thousand or Alien Lanes fondly will be in for a treat.
From the opening measure of "Laundry and Lasers" it’s apparent that GBV are back to their old tricks, hard hitting, lo-fi, no nonsense, hook heavy rock ‘n roll. As always it’s a tidy ordeal, 21 songs that barely top the 40-minute mark. The highlights come and go quickly, but Pollard and his mates have proven once again to be masters of the catchy-as-all-hell sub 2-minute song. The easygoing, acoustic driven "Doughnut For a Snowman" starts with the one of the great lines of the album, “Starts off her day with a Krispy Kreme doughnut as sweet as life can get”, and is immediately followed by the sharp, wailing guitars of "Spiderfighter". Lead single ‘The Unsinkable Fats Domino’ is the GBV aesthetic played out in one song, rough around the edges, but totally memorable.
If there’s a bone to pick with Factory it’s that Pollard and Co. are reliving the past a little too much. The album is typical of what this lineup was putting out 15 years ago, and there seems to be little desire to stray from that tried and true formula.
Still, the rekindling of something many indie rock fans hold dear is well worth it. After seeing this reformed lineup at Pitchfork Fest over the summer, complete with all the hard drinking, heavy smoking, high leg kicking antics that have been their calling card for years, it became apparent to me that new music from this particular incarnation of GBV is totally necessary, Factory seems to suggest they have a lot more to say. Though not as ground breaking as Bee Thousand was some 17 years ago, it’s still a hard hitting, red hot piece of indie rock and one that is indeed worthy of inclusion in the lengthy and legendary GBV discography.
Grade: B+
~Steve Dobek
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