Isolation Drills
Each Guided By Voices release emphasizes a different aspect of the quirky combo\'s quest for perfect power pop. This Rob Schnapf-produced gem pumps up the guitars and turns the band\'s often lo-fi jangle into a hi-tech sonic crunch. Singer Robert Pollard is nearly trampled by the furious riffage and chunky guitar chords that come screaming in full-scale stereo. Hiding underneath the attack, Pollard continues to amaze with his inexhaustible library of classic pop melodies and contagious Brit-pop enthusiasm. Not bad for a former schoolteacher from Ohio. The album begins in particularly brawny fashion. \"Fair Touching\" and \"Skills Like This\" slide towards \'70s power-pop hard rockers Cheap Trick in terms of obvious influences before lightening up just a tad for the layered swooning of \"Chasing Heather Crazy.\" The 55 seconds of \"Frostman\" recall the band\'s casual whimsical days — that Pollard never abandoned but puts on hold here. One hesitates to call this a step towards maturity — there\'s always a childlike wonder blowing through these sweet blasts — but tracks such as \"Twilight Campfighter\" and \"Glad Girls\" and even the near prog-rock of \"The Enemy\" are brought to their full potential.
Tonight, the people of Dayton, Ohio will sleep a sound sleep. Children, tucked\n\ tight in their beds, will dream ...