normal happiness (and california too)

so the "second" robert pollard solo album, normal happiness, has leaked! now, my love of pollard's work is not in question, but this album is fairly not good. it could easily have been a fading captain release under the name psycho & the birds, a pseudonym that released two fairly not good cds earlier this year.

with psycho, all the songs were improvised into a boombox, and then dressed-up by producer todd tobias, who favors the indistinct garage rock with loopy keyboards sound. normal happiness is exactly the same, except the songs mostly sound like the second takes of improvised songs -- maybe a little more refined, but still a bit undercooked. in fact, at least two of the tracks can be found of Suitcase 2 as nearly identical make-it-up-as-i-go-along demos. of course, pollard has ALWAYS written songs this way, mixing and matching the good parts from improv jams, but previous recordings captured the inherent spontaneityin his writing without sounding detached, improvised and unfocused.

"rhoda rhoda" comes closest to sounding like a bee thousand outtake (the gold standard by which everything else pollard is measured) although it somehow manages to go on for too long, despite being only 1:49. "supernatural car lover" is the big hit, featuring a classic pollardian riff and melody and cut from the same mold as the classic "wrinkled ghost" from the oft-overlooked waved out.

the rest of the album is mostly short, meandering fragments of lumbering prog rock. there's nothing as great as "u.s. mustard co." or "i'm a strong lion" from his last album. though it's good to hear pollard this loose and free (his singing style on this album is frequently quite bizarre) but his reliance on todd tobias is rapidly becoming a crutch.

if you are interested in his recent work, i highly recommend blues and boogie shoes by the keene brothers and turn to red by the takeovers, two albums released this year that showcase pollard's talents in a far more satisfying way. the keene brothers album is the opposite of tossed-off, thanks to tommy keene's jangly, 80's style instrumentals. the takeovers is the other end of the spectrum, a hodgepodge of sounds and styles that, like pollard's best work, combines to make a complete whole greater than the sum of its parts. it's more GBV than the last few GBV albums, AND it features a few vintage tracks from the vaults, including the absolutely great "be it not for the serpentine rain dodger," which don't just sound like old-school GBV, but ARE old-school GBV. rock.

MP3: robert pollard - rhoda rhoda
MP3: the takeovers - be it not for the serpentine rain dodger
MP3: the keene brothers - death of the party (from robertpollard.net)

buy pollard albums here: http://robertpollard.net/luna.html