Bee Thousand - Guided By Voices (1994)

I’m working on a series of “I just don’t get it” sort of posts: things that are widely beloved but just miss me. I put GBV in that category.

There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s all fun and singable and air-guitar-able. The lo-fi thing doesn’t bother me all that much, although there are a lot of bands that sound similar in much better recording quality, even from this same year.

20 tracks, all at 3 minutes or less, is pretty rock n roll. No wasted space, as I’ve pointed out elsewhere. But also it has the feel of a sampler of something much longer and more involved and more solidly built. This is the template for later GBV albums as well, even once they started recording in an actual studio.

It’s an interesting document. A very creative band who was working entirely outside the mainstream but still made a lot of memorable music. As yet, though, I can appreciate it but I haven’t found a way into really enjoying it.