Let It Beard

Boston Spaceships (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 2, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Guided By Voices
• ASIN: B0055T3RFQ
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,766 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Robert Pollard has called the epic 2011 double-LP Let It Beard ''a subconscious concept album about the sorry state of Rock 'n' Roll.'' A 75-minute thrill ride through the many forms Pollard has mastered in his three-plus decades of writing and recording, it's ''the White Album meets Quadrophenia meets Jesus Christ Superstar,'' in his words. Let It Beard features strings, horns, keyboards, a female soul singer and guest turns from such luminaries as Colin Newman from Wire, J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr, Steve Wynn from the Dream Syndicate, Mick Collins from The Dirtbombs, Dave Rick from Phantom Tollbooth and Mitch Mitchell from Guided By Voices.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Boston Spaceships!, August 6, 2011

By 

The Last Person You'd Expect (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Let It Beard (Audio CD)

I'm a fanatical listener of Pollard projects, I admit, but when judging his work, I try to be realistic. I believe this to be his fifth album this year under one banner or another. There have been twenty-some albums since his best-known band officially called it quits in 2005 or so. I've probably heard 90% of the post-GBV output. So, while I'm reluctant to say it, because it will sound unbelievable, but here goes: this is his best album of this period and probably among the top five of his career. It might sound like I'm only excited to have something new, but I promise I haven't said that about any other of his albums. I've been excited about other releases, like From a Compound Eye, ...Off to Business, the first Boston Spaceships, and a couple others, but this really is a notch or two above what has been for the most part a solid career on RP's part. And just to be clear, GBV is ancient history at this point. Many will call this his best since GBV, but this isn't meant to imply it sounds as such. His sound has evolved subtly, and Let It Beard reflects this well and continues RP's evolution in new ways.

But more specifically: This album is *strong*, from start to finish. Like Exile On Main Street or Quadrophenia, there aren't that many tracks that you'd pick out for a greatest hits comp (while 'Tabby and Lucy' might be a good start), but it blows through such a variety of styles and moods with such energy that even at 80 min, it doesn't sound that long. I think it helps to be acquainted with Pollard's general aesthetic to begin with, as it's really quite different from regular 'indie'. It's very unpretentious and ego-free, in that he never sings about himself or emote self-indulgently. More importantly, it's a collage-style of music, drawing vaguely from all over recent music history, from power-pop to classic rock to prog and 60's garage. Let It Beard has got it all, but unlike the 'tinkering around' feeling you sometimes get from his records, on this one the Boston Spaceships seem to know exactly what they want-- all three of them, not just RP. Let It Beard might be the loudest B.S. release, and while less experimental than Circus Devils, Lifeguards, et al, it's exceedingly confident, and the Who's influence is particularly evident. So there's my shameless, gushing review. Keep in mind it might take a few spins to get into, but I hope you enjoy it...

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pollard's Best in a Very, VERY Long Time, August 14, 2011

By 

G. Locke "Ze Catalist Dot Com" (Fort Wayne, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Let It Beard (Audio CD)

Every now and again former Guided by Voices frontman Robert Pollard, known for his overly prolific approach to releasing records, works quite a bit harder on one of his records than he does his many others. A few years ago he released a double record called From a Compound Eye - he worked kinda/sorta hard on that one. Then he released Normal Happiness a few months later, which he also seemingly worked more on than most of his other post-Guided by Voices records. Since those two albums he's released at least another 20 albums under a number of different monikers. Not joke, 20, maybe even 30 full length records.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love Pollard (especially Alien Lanes, Bee Thousand, the last three GBV albums and the above mentioned Compound Eye and Normal Happiness), but I find him to be an almost always infuriating artist to love. (Why, you ask? Because a man with his pop craft ability could and should be releasing 12 amazing songs - and no more - every year or two.) Coming up to date, Pollard has already released four or five albums this year (I stopped counting); and so when I heard about a new release called Let It Beard, to be released under his Boston Spaceships moniker, I just wasn't all that excited. I mean, Pollard has undeniably put the most work into the Boston Spaceships stuff over the last few years, calling it his "core project," but I just figured we'd get another 20ish-song record with three or four good/great tracks.

Not the case. Not exactly. We get a pretty damn long album this time, clocking in at 26 songs over 76 minutes - a proper double album. And sure, there are some not-so-hot songs here and there, but, for the most part, Let it Beard is a very good, very complete sounding album. It reminds me of Guided by Voices quite a bit - a mixture of one-, two- and three-minute songs that all pass quickly and hang heavily on their stylized lo-fi ornamentation, indie rock classicism and, mostly, their beefy hooks - most of which are pretty great, if often somewhat redundant in the scope of Bob's endless catalog. So, of these 26 new songs, I challenged myself to pick 10 favorites, next burning those onto a disc to listen to as a short, solid pop rock record. I did this because I've been telling friends - and myself - for years that, if Bob had an editor and took a little more time to construct great albums like he did through the 90s (and even the early 2000s at times), he'd be releasing the best indie-pop-rock albums on the planet.

And so I constructed such a list, and it went like this: 1. "German Field of Shadows"; 2. "Speed Bumps"; 3. "Blind 20-20"; 4. "Tourist UFO"; 5. "Make a Record fo Lo-Life": 6. "Tabby and Lucy"; 7. "The Ballad of Bad Whiskey"; 8. "Christmas Girl"; 9. "Let It Beard"; 10. "Chevy Marigold." After burning the disc and listening a few times I took a look at the track list. My first thought was: "Dang, some great titles, Bob." My next thought was: "I missed a lot of my favorites; maybe I'll make a disc of 10 b-side worthy songs." And so I did. Then I listened to that second 10-song disc a few times, then the first again. Repeat. All 20 songs were pretty great, offering a whole lot of variety, some pretty cool guitar tracks and, of course, Bob's signature pseudo-British howl. None of the songs felt like fragments or half realized ideas - they all felt very full and real. My next though, of course, was: "20 outta 26 ain't bad!"

Soon enough I tossed those two discs and just stuck with the 26-song Let It Beard, listening to the record as Pollard and his noteworthy bandmates - drummer John Moen (former Jicks, The Decemberists, Perhapst) and former GBV member Chris Slusarenko - intended it be experienced. Not only did I come to the conclusion that Beard is the best Pollard record in years, but it became quite clear after a dozen or so listens that the record is a big one for Pollard - a record he clearly spent much time with and worked very hard on. He even called in a number of guests - Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate), J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.), Colin Newman (Wire), Mick Collins (The Dirtbombs) and more - for the record; a move that I'm sure added an extra push of energy while arranging and recording.

So here's the thing: Let It Beard is probably a new Pollard classic, but it's probably not an new all-around indie rock classic. This not because the record isn't good enough to be considered in such high regard, but, rather, because Pollard is repeating himself and playing it quite safe here. The adventurous spirit of his two major records, Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes, can hardly be found on Let It Beard, even if the three albums clearly all come from the same mind. Pollard is just far too deep into his career at this point; he knows exactly how to make great songs, and he rarely strays from that formula in successful ways. So here we get, more or less, the best of the Robert Pollard we've come to know over the last 20-plus years. He's given us reason to hold on hope. Reason to keep buying his many albums and learning his many, many hooks. Dare I say Let It Beard is the third best Pollard-related album ever? Dare I do. Too bad the man claims that this will be the last Boston Spaceships album, just as they were hitting their creative stride. Maybe, though, it means that Pollard plans to start recording with GBV - whom he's been doing reunion shows with for a good while now - full-time again. Hold on hope.

Read more of my music- and film-related writing at ZeCatalist.com.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Let it Beard, Let it Beard and Get All Weird!, August 13, 2011

By 

Frank Smith - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let It Beard (Audio CD)

Recently I wrote a gushing review of Robert Pollard's astonishing Lord of the Birdcage. Recordings like the stellar Lord of the Birdcage -- and now the latest, massive Boston Spaceships' effort Let it Beard -- make it abundantly clear that Pollard's best work is not well behind him with his Guided By Voices records. If anything Pollard just gets better with age. Sure a few of his tunes can feel tossed-off and half-baked, but the man is a careening freight train of song ideas. Better not stop that train; there could be dire consequences. Boston Spaceships includes Chris Shisarenko and John Moen and a pile of great guest musicians. A dizzying, ambitious collection of 26 songs and about 76 minutes of music, Let It Beard does get all weird like the title track intones. But it's all a very good weird, believe me. Starting out of the gate with the skittering Blind 20-20, which morphs into a lilting reference to Chevy Marigold, we have everything from garage rock, punk-like blasts of noise to melodious Beatlesque folk and every point in between. For all its raw energy and sheer verve, this album is as carefully planned and notated as the most elaborate classical symphony. That humming bit that Pollard adds to Tourist UFO just before J Mascis's blistering, beautiful electric solo is so perfectly placed. The horns in I'll Make It Strong for You and Christmas Girl are pure genius. The stunning Let More Light Into The House relies on a lovely plucked, circular acoustic guitar riff with just a touch of banjo. That track is a mini-epic. Great songs are in abundance here. The simple, sing-along melody of The Ballad of Bad Whiskey floored me immediately. A Dozen Blue Overcoats, with Gordon Withers playing cello is lovely as is No Steamboats. Let It Beard is so infused with the joy of music-making that I've been grinning from ear to ear every time I listen to it. How could Pitchfork give this album 6 stars out of 10? If you don't love Let It Beard, you don't like rock 'n roll as far as I'm concerned. Oh, and before I wind this review to a close, let me say that I'm getting tired of The Who comparisions for everything Robert Pollard is involved with. I get that the guy digs The Who and can sound a tad like Roger Daltrey. Would the Boston Spaceships album Let It Beard exist if the Beatles or The Who hadn't preceded Pollard? Probably not. But let me state this for the record, as great as The Who was and Who albums are -- and I love that band -- Robert Pollard surpassed Pete Townshend as a songwriter ages ago. Townshend was always a bit too linear and paint by numbers as a writer for my taste. So go on, you know you want it: "Let It Beard, Let it Beard and Get All Weird"!