The Bears for Lunch: Yet Another Good GBV Album
Guided By Voices – The Bears for Lunch
Guided By Voices Inc.
THIS is how to make rock and roll. You do it in your basement–and at your buddy’s recording studio a few towns over. You assess what you’ve recorded after a month and put the record together with your hands (including the album covers). And then you put it out yourself. It’s homemade rock and roll. IMAGINE THAT!
In typical GbV fashion, you have no idea what’s around the corner on The Bears for Lunch. There’s no shortage of the usual big-rawk anthems (such as the genius 30-second gem “Smoggy Boy”), lo-fi acoustic tracks (Tobin Sprout’s Simon and Garfunkel-esque “Waking Up The Stars” sounds like a demo from “The Graduate” soundtrack) and downright weird Robert Pollard experiments (“Finger Gang” ranges from beautiful to violently creepy).
Mostly though, you’ll find gorgeous melodies, jaw-dropping lyrics and not a clunker to be found.
As a longtime fan of this band, I’m awfully proud of GbV “MACH 2” (as they’re being dubbed). With narry a bandmember under the age of 50, they produced a staggering three albums this year with no end in sight. A new double album is set for early 2013 release. – (8.5/10)
Jensen Rufe also contributes to Northern California’s Savage Henry Magazine.