Friday, June 15, 2007

Guided By Voices - "Scalding Creek"


One of the things I always loved about the Voices was their perverse willingness to leave the most ridiculous flaws in their recordings. After generating some underground buzz for 1993's Vampire on Titus, anticipation was high for the next record. Bee Thousand had the potential to (and ultimately did) make the band underground superstars if they pulled it off. So when the guitar accidentally shut off during the heroic kick-in at the start of "Hardcore UFOs" due to, I don't know, a loose cable or something, did they start over and get a take without technical glitches? No, they kept it as is. And not only that, they made it the opening track on the album.


In the middle of the first verse of this track, from the Get Out of My Stations EP, a loud crash goes off that's louder than the rest of the track. It sounds like someone bumping into a combo amp with a reverb coil. Anyone who's ever owned a Peavey Bandit 112 will know exactly what I'm talking about. So what did they do? They made it the opening track. You can just imagine them pissing themselves laughing at it during mixdown. Then cracking yet another round of Buds. I wonder if any of them were so blotted that they were surprised to hear it when they listened to the 7" later on.


The other reason I'm posting it is, of course, because they mention drinking. As usual.


Another Other Music tag, this time only $3.99. Hardly a great bunch of songs, but they're always worth it when you love the band.


Buy it... on vinyl.


From my deck to you: Guided By Voices - "Scalding Creek"


I'm gonna stick with GBV for another week. Starting Monday, I'll post a few gems from the early albums. The ones in the first box set. Seriously, how many bands can you name with a "first" box set? As opposed to their other box sets? Los Voces have at least four that I can think of. But next week'll be all from the first.

No comments: