ROBERT POLLARD

From a Compound Eye

2006-01-21

For fans of “Guided by Voices,” Pollard is the infamous man responsible for starting the band, keeping it going through numerous changes over the course of fifteen years, and then breaking them up with the promise of no greatest hits, live, or compilation albums ever to be released. Their brand of lo-fi post-punk jangle-pop, governed by Pollard’s four P’s: punk, psyche, prog and pop, drunkenly tore up the American indie rock scene for fifteen years. F.A.C.E. is Bob’s first solo release since his departure, and it has several elements in common with “GBV” albums, such as lots of short songs, some great, some not. Pollard’s distinctive guitar work and vocals shape the sound of this record. Also evident are a wide variety of influences from innumerable 70s-80s rock bands, from a man who claims to have purchased at least one copy of every single vinyl record ever released. -Pete