Search - Robert Pollard :: Bubble Ep

"Bubble" a thin but solid offering

John Wenzel | Denver, CO | 11/18/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Robert Pollard writes and records music the way most people breathe - as a matter of biology, not choice. Sometimes his breathing sounds more labored than others, wheezing through quickie albums of nominally-inspired indie rock, stretching his songwriting gifts too thin. His 2005 release schedule is littered with albums under various fantastical names (The Moping Swans, Circus Devils, etc.), plus a solo offering here and there.



But since Pollard's prolific ways have become shorthand for his varying output, many that once lauded him (and his late band Guided By Voices) have inched away from that hasty praise - especially the drooling indie press that canonized GBV in the first place (and yes, I am guilty of this too). Given Pollard's prolificacy, it's refreshing to see him pare down his output to EP-length, such as the February release of Zoom (2005, Fading Captain Series #31).



The new soundtrack to Steven Soderbergh's Ohio-based documentary Bubble is another solid EP, energetic from start to finish and crackling with an unusual professionalism. "It's a pop album," Pollard told [...] about Normal Happiness, the forthcoming album of songs that didn't make the Bubble cut. He could easily have said the same of Bubble, which despite (or maybe due to) its brevity, packs one hell of a punch.



Thin as it may be, Bubble finds Pollard paying a lot of attention to his guitar playing and the nuances of smoke-stained his voice. "All Men Are Freezing" is a satisfyingly prog-addled rocker, as galvanizing as anything on GBV's swan song, Half Smiles of the Decomposed (2004, Matador). On "747 Ego," a song that appears in two slightly different mixes here, Pollard belts out soulful melodies over dark, chugging guitars a sludgy drum stomp. The acoustic guitar/drum instrumentals "Boxing About" and "Searchlight Pick-ups" sound like slowed-down versions of GBV's "Girls of Wild Strawberries," which isn't a bad thing. The vocal style of "I'm No Child" is ironic in its squirrelly, petulant meandering.



Like a lot of Pollard's recent output, there's nothing revelatory or innovative here (go back to the mid-to-late `90s GBV, or one of Pollard's weirder side projects for that). However, it only takes a few listens for the melodies to work their way into your brain and, like all the best pop songs, get stuck there against your will.

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