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Columbus Dispatch - Columbus OH - 5/9/01
By Curtis Schieber

Guided by Voices on cusp of breakout


Fame is like riding a snake. The farther back one
rides, the more thrilling the action but the greater
the likelihood of being bit.

The convoluted politics of pop music have less to do
with whether you're on the snake, but how you manage
to ride and how close to harm's way you're positioned.

Guided by Voices, the 15-year old Dayton band that
performed Tuesday in Little Brother's, could serve as
a case study for this "snake ride" theory. The band
has traveled from indie rock heroes to "the next big
thing."

Led by singer and songwriter Bob Pollard, a former
schoolteacher in his early 40s, the group riffed
through its huge catalog of releases, playing more
than 40 songs during a 2 1/2 hour set.

The band played ragged early material alongside tunes
from its more-carefully crafted new albums.

With a performance that drew on punk, 1960s pop, hard
rock and area-rock, Pollard & Co. blended all the
material seamlessly. The band made the jagged sketches
of earlier songs co-exist with the shimmering British
Invasion pop of the new Isolation Drills album.

With an unflagging outsider's attitude, Pollard
delivered frothy pop songs, such as Teenage FBI. The
singer's rebel pose wasn't what carried the live
reading of such tunes such as the new album's
addictive Chasing Heather Crazy, though. One of
several new pieces that recall Britain's Hollies, this
song stuck to the facts: irrepressible guitar chords
and a hypnotic melody.

The reconstructed band, including guitarists Doug
Gillard and Nate Farley, bassist Tim Tobias and
drummer Jon McCann, was key in the set's success.

Pollard endeavors to retain his indie attitude. He
began the show by reprimanding "hack writers" who
dwell on his drinking habits, even though when it
suits his purposes, he fosters that hard-drinking
reputation.

But he seems able to reconcile the musical gap
(perceived by some longtime fans) between the stubborn
minimalism of early records and the pop appeal of
newer ones.

Tuesday night's packed house might represent a
challenge, however. When the group played the new
album's Glad Girls, a song reminiscent of early-1970s
pop band Big Star, the audience roared.

The song is so catchy that, with some expert placement
and luck, it could score big on commercial pop radio.
Its potential success could put Guided by Voices in a
bind if the band is, say, hired to perform for large,
mainstream audiences. The group will have to think
long and hard about its position on the snake.