Guide Vocal

Mention the name Guided By Voices to Julian Casablancas or any of his fellow Strokes and they immediately get all dewy eyed and nostalgic. Thought the New York quintet cogged all their moves from the CGBGs set? Wrong. It was the work and live shows of the Dayton, Ohio group led by pop visionary Robert Pollard that inspired Julian to write songs. The title track of Is This It even sounds like a GBV tribute. They only ever wanted “to be as big as Guided by Voices.”

In the US, GBV are alt-rock demi-gods. Fellow Dayton girl Kim Deal is a huge fan, as is Thurston Moore. They released their umpteenth record earlier this summer entitled Universal Turths and Cycles and finally got round to playing their first Irish shows at the end of last month.

“I think the reason we’ve been so prolific is that the songs just keep flowing,” explains guitarist and backing vocalist Doug Gillard. “Bob always seems to have all the ideas for the next record ready about a week after we release each album.”

“I think the demand for the band is because that on one level, people love the fact we have a lot of stuff. Also, we have a good live reputation so people keep showing up at our shows.”

Doug believes GBV’s appeal is because Bob is not just a great songwriter, but a real musical genius. “He brings four diverse elements together seamlessly,” Gillard explains. “He calls them the four P’s – Punk, Psycheldelia, Pop and Prog.” While some of their records are quite hard to track down this side of the pond, their new album and four P’s masterpiece Universal Truths And Cycles is widely available and its also well worth getting your mits on the stellar classic Alien Lanes. Who knows? You might end up forming a band.