(TVT)
Robert Pollard’s strategy remains the same: record everything that his muse spews up. Lately, though, he puts the songs that were written 15 min after they were recorded on his Fading Captain Series of solo projects, and while there is the occasional gem (“Pop Zeus!“) on those records, for the most part, they are for his ever-dwindling cult. Because he still has dreams of Rock ‘n’ Roll glory, he puts the great stuff on the GBV records, and Isolation Drills is full of it.
Songs like “Fair Touching,” “Glad Girls,” and “Run Wild” are the shit, all full of chunky guitars, rumbling drums (courtesy of ex-Breeder Jim McPherson, one of the secretly great drummers of our time) sing-along melodies, and, as an extra added bonus, lyrics that nearly make sense! It also feelsAnd when celebrated onstage beer-chugger Pollard stops to ask “How’s My Drinking?” you not only get sense that while he still dreams of Rock and Roll glory, its also beginning to seep into his nightmares.
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Part of my 2001 Top Ten list as published by Neumu on Jan 11, 2002