Welcome to the commencement of 2013’s Guided By Voices recorded output. Please take your seats quickly. For those who slept through 2012, the
Dayton, OH, rock legends released three hugely-acclaimed albums last
year and toured throughout the United States of America, including Florida.
Bandleader Robert Pollard also put out two solo albums, a couple issues
of his collage-heavy zine Eat, as well as a “Best Of” record by his other old
band Boston Spaceships, and conquered the moon, probably.
Down by the Racetrack is Guided By Voices stretching out in a way not
seen since early- to mid-’90s EPs like Get Out My Stations or Clown Prince
of the Menthol Trailer. It’s a particular kind of lo-fi weirdness, from the
spooky background “aahs” on “Pictures of the Man” to the drunk piano bashing on “Standing in a Puddle of Flesh.” The mix of wild, tossed-off vocals,
raw guitar chug and skewed “Eleanor Rigby” / “See Emily Play” sweetness
could only have originated from the Midwest-warped minds of Dayton’s
canniest rock warlocks.
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