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"Circus Devils has been frightening the pants off casual listeners for years with their day trips into darkness; Sgt Disco, on the other hand, is their most newbie-friendly release yet, with plenty of toe-tapping, memorable chorus lines & evocative hooks." -Lord Kitchen Knife "Trippy (meaning fun)" -East Bay Express "It's not for everybody, that's for sure." --Tom Johnson / Blogcritics magazine NewburyComics.com SGT. DISCO digs into the whirring, rusty science-fiction corner of Pollard's imagination, indulging his famous Peter Gabriel-era Genesis fetish with a 32-track budget prog-pop space opera. The Constable's Headscape slams with oppressive, dystopian-future percussion and suffocating synths, while the more contemplative Swing Shift meanders with slow, junkyard drums and wheezing machinery. Circus Devils gives one of indie rock's most celebrated clowns a chance to think big thoughts, with a musical ambition that bursts free of its Ohio garage origins. FILTER magazine Circus Devils is to Robert Pollard what Grinderman is to Nick Cave. It's dark, freaky rock with increased input from the usual suspects (brothers Todd and Tim Tobias--two familiar Pollard conspirators). And, like everything Pollard puts out, Sgt. Disco is saturated with songs (32 of them, to be exact)--multiple sketches that shoulda/woulda/coulda been converted into a dozen golden eggs, Grade A, if he only had the patience to polish and the discipline to restrain. But then it wouldn't be a Pollard enterprise, would it? So instead of a pretty garden we're given a bit of a jungle, but hacking through it is a worthwhile trip. On The Constable's Headscape, the murderous narrator twists the listener through his thoughts while the music turns from menacing to soaring; elsewhere, minute-long ditties set the mood without always setting the scene. That might seem incomplete in other contexts; here it just keeps things interesting. --Benjy Eisen Weekly Dig . . . Shanties, Throbbing Gristle-esque loops and noises, stoner jams and mini-pop-operas all piled like vignettes and miniatures averaging about 80-90 seconds. But they pile carefully, thoroughly producing a world within each. No lo-fi sketchbooks mastered to CD here. It's awesome to see Pollard finally successfully pull off an album completely divorced of GBV nostalgia in sound while embracing the wild exploration of yore. Boise Weekly I'm reminded of certain "modern art" pieces like the guy who tacked a bunch of garbage to a canvas and said it was a commentary on American decadence and waste. But really, all he did was tack up trash and call it art. I don't feel that art is art just because somebody said so. It takes talent and the ability to organize creative ideas, a lesson Sgt. Disco would benefit to learn. -- Tom Kershaw ALARM magazine Sgt. Disco has a much darker aura than the core of Pollard's work; he bleats, blurts, sputters, and shakes all over these tracks, and the arrangements bear distinct metal influences (put through his unique filter of course). New listeners will be perplexed; old fans know the drill. It's not easy loving a visionary. -- Michael Patrick Brady Reaxmusic.com This disc contains a melting pot of songs that will leave you either amazed or confused. The album is full of Pollard's signature eccentric personality and playfulness, which is on full display with tracks like War Horsies and George Took a Shovel. Tobias creates a stimulating, ambient musical backdrop that makes listening to the 32 tracks on Sgt. Disco worthwhile. - Christopher Henderson ValleyAdvocate.com Don't write off Robert Pollard just yet. The ever-prolific former Guided By Voices frontman hasn't been at the top of his game since, oh, 1996, but he's still got a few nutty poetic tricks up his sleeve. Pollard is aided here by two former GBV collaborators. Pollard has internalized the classic-rock aesthetic. He's added absurdist Captain Beefheart colors to his palette. Circus Devils are uneven, but Pollard on an off day is more interesting than countless others at their peak. --John Adamian Brainwashed On "Summer is Set" Pollard sings of an "avalanche of mumbo-jumbo" and this just about sums up the album. NuVoid The Circus Devils moniker has allowed Robert Pollard the opportunity to indulge his most experimental and prog-influenced proclivities and, at 32 tracks, this is by far the most elaborate Circus Devils record to date. Like previous Circus Devils albums, this one hangs together amazingly well as some kind of obscurantist, art-damaged rock-opera. If you can get in the mood for that kind of thing, this one is definitely a keeper. -Rodger Coleman Pitchfork On Sgt. Disco, Pollard's vocals inch closer to center stage than before, his bizarre tics evolving into more palatable grotesques of various rock genres. The vague, bristly sound collages of Five appear to have gelled to form more straightforward pseudo-grunge tracks. Power chord stompers like "George Took a Shovel" and "Outlasting Girafalo" capture the early 90s Pearl Jam/Stone Temple Pilots aesthetic, with Pollard's comically deep Vedder growl justified by clever songwriting. In fact, for any Pollard project, GbV or otherwise, Sgt. Disco sports a surprisingly high number of verse-chorus-verse structures. Tracks like "In Madonna's Gazebo" harness the power of skewed noise rock riffs within a pretty conventional format, and even the avant-garde film score synths of "The Constable's Headscape" settle into a hummable chorus. For brief moments, the duo even scrapes away enough muck to let some heart shine through. Psych ballad "Rose In Paradise", the album's penultimate track, feels like a breath of fresh air after an hour-plus of overdrive assault. The three-minute centerpiece (if such a thing exists on a 32-track album) "Swing Shift" especially harkens back to the GbV days of poignant albeit oblique pop gems, the familiar guitar and bass setup simply replaced with synth and sound effects. Sgt. Disco proves to be a pocket of sanity in Circus Devils' otherwise mind-boggling oeuvre. --Adam Moerder Dayton City Paper At this point, the music of ex-GBV leader Robert Pollard is so idiosyncratic the only frame of reference for any new release is his own catalog. Sgt. Disco, emphasizes Pollard's love of 70s prog and 60s psychedelia, tinged throughout with sludgy metal, producing occasionally brilliant results. Sgt. Disco jettisons the more accessible aspects of Pollard's muse, allowing him to indulge the fringes of his musical landscape. Pollard, along with longtime co-conspirators Todd and Tim Tobias, frequently recalls King Crimson and Peter Gabriel-era Genesis on tracks like ėIn Madonna's Gazeboî and "Pattern Girl". The Broadway-psych romp "New Boy" finds Pollard at his most esoteric. The melodies never quite find a predictable landing, instead they constantly extend the tension to almost unbearable limits. -Kyle Melton The Fire Note With each album the Circus Devils have evolved their sound from the atmospheric edge to more of a concept rock opera event, to Sgt. Disco, which has elements of the past but really brings back the focus to the songs. There are sing-a-long choruses like in ėPattern Girlî, there are driving crunchy guitars in ėGeorge Took A Shovelî, poetic lo-fi ballads such as ėRose In Paradiseî and plenty of tracks somewhere in-between short and long on this 32-track offering. Overall if there ever was a chance for Pollard to finally have another band not lumped into his other side projects, Circus Devils is it and Sgt. Disco will not only please longtime Pollard fans but really could grab a new cult following with its solid song structures, flow and likeability. -Christopher Anthony Glide Magazine This 32-song release featuring Robert Pollard and the Tobias brothers (Todd and Tim) is another interesting piece from Pollard that at times is pure magic. Sounding like Tom Waits or Bowie circa Outside on ėSwing Shift,î ėBreak My Legî and ėThe Winner's Circleî but generally keeping to his catchy rock, Pollard is at his best during ėIn Madonna's Gazeboî and the country-roots mix of ėGeorge Took A Shovel.î Coming off at times as if it was produced in 1968, Circus Devils shine on the short ėNicky Highpocketsî while ėBrick Soul Mascots (Part 1)î has a Floydian tint to it. Even the murky, quirky efforts like ėNew Boy,î ėDead Duck Dinosaurî and ėThe Assassin's Ballroom (Get Your Ass In)î flows quite well. Perhaps the highlight among the near three dozen tracks is ėThe Pit Fighterî that shows a bit more urgency. --Jason MacNeil |
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