Guided by Voices: Surrender Your Poppy Field ( 2020 )

      Apologies in advance, but I don't have a lot to say about Surrender Your Poppy Field. This is the first of three albums the band released in 2020. At the time, I don't remember being particularly jazzed about any of them. As I've listened to SYPF again, it seems more like a schizophrenic Robert Pollard solo album than a follow up to Sweating the Plague. Almost every song is a collage of Pollard's different song styles. Imagine if you had a radio and every station played songs from different eras of Uncle Bob's career. Now change stations every ten seconds for two minutes at a time. That approach worked fine over thirty years ago for Propeller, but for now, I have SYPF rated at 3-stars. 

     Regardless, every release by Robert Pollard has at least a few gems that are superior to most other bands best songs. "Windjammer" is divinely inspired by The Who, including a dynamic Keith Moon- esque drum fill spectacular by Kevin March. "Physician" starts out like a slowed down "Blitzkreig Bop" and the entire band is locked in. This track is the most successful use of stylistic change within one song. "Man Called Blunder" is a classic, in the pocket, indie rock guitar jam. Bob's vocals are right in his sweet spot. "Always Gone" has a sloppy, late-60's, garage-y sound that I love. It runs about a minute and a half, which is where most great Pollard songs fall. 

     There are also plenty of weird ditties. "Woah Nelly" is a bizarre, one-minute throw away track that sounds like an old 78 RPM record. The song "Cat Beats a Drum" has virtually no drumming, except Kevin March tapping a cymbal repeatedly. "Stone Cold Moron" seems to be a thinly veiled commentary on a certain state sanctioned, armed violence career that I won't explicitly identify here. "Cul-de-Sac Kids" is a goofy song about...Cul-de-Sac kids throwing great parties! The chorus is pretty great though. 

     I know I made it sound as if I don't like SYPF, but it does have some high highs. Even songs like the single "Volcano" and "Queen Parking Lot" are really good. Everything else on the album sounds like a step back from Sweating the Plague. It's hard to set aside being a fanboy and look at these records objectively, but I'm trying. Peace.