Guided by Voices

In terms of both music and history, Guided by Voices could be indie rock's greatest oddity. The group's total output was larger than many peoples' record collections: They released dozens of studio albums since 1987, plus multiple multi-CD boxed sets, each with more than 100 otherwise unreleased songs, plus a few stacks of live albums, limited-edition EPs and spinoff projects-all of which is a small fraction of the output of the band's frontman and mastermind, Robert Pollard. The band had working-class roots in Dayton, Ohio, where Pollard was also a grade-school teacher and basketball enthusiast. Their first EP, 1986's Forever Since Breakfast, showed a soon-abandoned R.E.M. influence. Over time they stopped gigging and did more recording, developing a homemade aesthetic with Pollard designing the covers as well as writing the songs. According to legend the band's recording equipment deteriorated over time, hence a gradual decrease in sound quality. Musically the band drew from what Pollard called the four P's: Post-punk, prog, pop and psychedelia. His free-associative lyrics became a trademark, as did his preference for many short songs in an album or show. He was rumored to keep a suitcase full of leftover songs under his bed, the source of the four Suitcase boxed sets. By the time of their seventh album, 1994's Bee Thousand (the title reportedly a drunken slurring of the name Pete Townshend), they'd perfected a mix of polished songwriting and haphazard recording quality. Thanks largely to this album, "low-fi" became an indie trend. Live shows of the era were just this side of chaotic, marked by Pollard's frantic energy, leg-kicks and copious beer consumption. Guitarist and cowriter Tobin Sprout emerged as the McCartney of the band, providing the more straightforward pop numbers. All was well until 1987 when Sprout left the band and Pollard fired everybody else, recruiting the Cleveland band Cobra Verde to be the new GBV. The next round of albums made peace with studio production, notably 1999's Do the Collapse with Ric Ocasek (This included GBV's first real ballad, "Hold On Hope," which Glen Campbell later covered with Pollard harmonizing). After a ceremonial farewell tour, the band disbanded on New Year's 2005, and Pollard made numerous albums with short-lived bands (Boston Spaceships, the Keene Brothers, Circus Devils, Mars Classroom). Finally Pollard reunited with Sprout and the Bee Thousand lineup to play one show for Matador Records' anniversary in 2010. This became a full tour the following year, then another tour and another, with the band releasing six new albums before imploding again in 2014. Many solo albums later, Pollard announced in 2016 that GBV was once again alive. However the new album Please Be Honest was the most unusual one in their catalogue, with Pollard-who seldom plays any instruments on stage or disc-now playing everything (and largely pulling it off, though with even fewer solos than usual). A new touring lineup was assembled, with guitarists Bobby Bare Jr. (son of the country legend) and Nick Mitchell. The latter was fired backstage a couple weeks into the tour, with Cobra Verde-era guitarist Doug Gillard stepping back in. From these volatile beginnings came one of GBV's stronger lineups, which recorded some of their most accessible work.