Discord & Rhyme: An Album Podcast

Discord and Rhyme is a podcast where we discuss the albums we love, song by song.

067: Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand (1994)

“I have an addiction to songwriting. You know, there are people who like to play softball all the time, or basketball, or darts, or whatever. I like to write songs, so when I'm here at home, I get up in the morning and make myself some coffee, and I just get my guitar and turn on my tape recorder.”

—Robert Pollard

This week, Dan, Mike, and Rich take a break from the usual state-of-the-art Discord & Rhyme studio, dust off the four-track, and head down to the basement with a case of beer for a no-frills chat about Guided by Voices. After percolating as 37-year-old school teacher Robert Pollard’s side hustle for over a decade, GBV (as we refer to them for 99% of the episode) suddenly found themselves on the radar of hip indie-rock tastemakers. 1994’s Bee Thousand captures this turning point for the band with a gloriously messy patchwork of 20 home-recorded songs that incorporate influences of what Pollard calls the Four P’s of Rock: prog, psych, pop, and punk. Jam along with us to these lo-fi anthems, and try to not pull a muscle while imitating Pollard’s signature stage kicks. 

Miscellany

  • The performance on HBO’s Reverb that caught Dan’s attention has thankfully been preserved on YouTube.

  • As we mention in the episode, Robert Pollard’s catalog can be comically difficult to navigate, especially once you wander out of the Guided by Voices releases. A particularly handy compilation to sample some of his side projects is 2007’s Crickets: Best of the Fading Captain Series

  • We pitched the cold open to Producer Mike as his chance to do his own version of the intro to the second LP of Todd Rundgren’s Something/Anything?, and he leapt at the opportunity.

  • Rich recognizes the double standard in making fun of Sting for referencing The Odyssey and praising Robert Pollard for referencing “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” and doesn’t care. 

Other links 

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

  • Dan Watkins (host)

  • Mike DeFabio (moderator)

  • Rich Bunnell 

Bee Thousand tracklist

  1. Hardcore UFO’s

  2. Buzzards and Dreadful Crows

  3. Tractor Rape Chain

  4. The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory

  5. Hot Freaks

  6. Smothered in Hugs

  7. Yours to Keep

  8. Echos Myron

  9. Gold Star for Robot Boy

  10. Awful Bliss

  11. Mincer Ray

  12. A Big Fan of the Pigpen

  13. Queen of Cans and Jars

  14. Her Psychology Today

  15. Kicker of Elves

  16. Ester’s Day

  17. Demons Are Real

  18. I Am a Scientist

  19. Peep-Hole

  20. You’re Not an Airplane 

Other clips used

Guided by Voices/Robert Pollard:

  • I'll Replace You with Machines

  • The Official Ironman Rally Song

  • Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox

  • The Other Place

  • Hey Hey, Spaceman

  • Exit Flagger

  • Dusted

  • Buzzards and Dreadful Crows (Suitcase version)

  • Buzzards and Dreadful Crows (Live in Austin version)

  • Burning Flag Birthday Suit

  • Motor Away

  • Starfire

  • Hey Aardvark

  • Demons Are Real (Live in Austin)

  • I Am A Scientist (EP version)

  • Game of Pricks

  • Chasing Heather Crazy

  • And I Don’t (So Now I Do) (Robert Pollard and Doug Gillard)

  • Everywhere with Helicopter

  • Death of the Party (The Keene Brothers)

  • Cut-Out Witch

  • Dancing Girls and Dancing Men (solo Robert Pollard)

  • Math Rock

  • The Best of Jill Hives

  • Stifled Man Casino (Live in Daytron ? 6° version) 

Others:

  • Genesis - Dodo (live)

  • Def Leppard - Animal

  • The Rolling Stones - Play with Fire

  • ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory

  • The Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso

  • The Flaming Lips - Smothered in Hugs

  • Yo La Tengo - Deeper into Movies

  • Local H - Smothered in Hugs

  • Electric Six - Getting into the Jam

  • The Jam - Little Boy Soldiers

  • Dinosaur Jr. - Pond Song

  • Big Star - Downs

  • Wire - Two People in a Room

  • The Fall - The Classical

  • The Who - Christmas

Band/album personnel

  • Robert Pollard – vocals, guitar, other instruments

  • Jim Pollard – bass guitar, feedback on "Demons Are Real"

  • Tobin Sprout – vocals, bass guitar, guitar, piano on "You're Not An Airplane", other instruments

  • Mitch Mitchell – guitar

  • Don Thrasher – drums and percussion

  • Dan Toohey – bass guitar

  • Kevin Fennell – drums and percussion

  • Greg Demos – bass guitar on "Tractor Rape Chain"

  • Randy Campbell – backing vocals on "A Big Fan of The Pigpen" 

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

  • Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

  • Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

  • The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

  • Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

  • Herbie Hancock - Hornets

  • Kraftwerk - Autobahn

  • Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

  • Guided by Voices - I Am a Scientist (this episode only) 

You can buy or stream Bee Thousand and other albums by Guided By Voices at Rockathon Records, your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Production and editing is by Rich, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production assistance and original music. See you next album, and be ever wonderful.

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