The Noise Guide
by Righex
This is a lo-fi material. It is garage music, like a band playing on the adjoining room. Park your car outside, zoom up the volume, it’s Guided By Voices. ‘Bobby P’ on the groove with grinning guitars and heart wrenching drums drenched with acoustic and static overtones. Hints of punk rock and The Who revival, The Grand Hour is a solution to a situational hazard. “Shocker in Gloomtown”, of which a live version is found on Jellyfish Reflector, was covered by The Breeders. For which a music video showed them playing it while Pollard and the crew was out peeking right in. Playful and rough, some track titles here ended up being album titles. And I was wondering if it was intentional for the song "Off The floor" to have started with a glimpse of "Hot Freaks", it’s unmistakable. It ended with the most playful song, the wobbly "Bee Thousand".
It’s a grand experience your parents can handle. They can throw it, so put it on your shelves, on your drawers, beside the lamp or on your desk, chances are you’d find yourself fixated. Don’t be alarmed, the five year old drummer from “Bee Thousand” might pick this one up from the trash, you’ll get over it.
“As Fast Japanese Spin Cycle is not available here, The Grand Hour is a fine alternative. It's 6 songs overflow with fine music and it features at least 2 classic GBV tunes. "Shocker in Gloomtown", "Off The Floor" and "Break Even" are great songs. "Alien Lanes" and "Bee Thousand" supply missing title songs to their two finest albums and "I'll Get Over It" is a decent song as well. This is a must have for any GBV fan and a nice snapshot of the band as it was just reaching it's peak. Get it....this will only make you cooler.”
