Customer Reviews

Sgt Disco (Dig)

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Circus Devils has not had it easy. How does a side project become an ongoing thing without seeming like a cache of cast offs? And, not to be mean, Bob Pollard has released some less than essential stuff in his time. Frankly, I feel that The Devils' debut was one of them. But to their credit, the band has not simply been a repository for Bob's experimental impulses. The Brothers Tobias have clearly made an attempt to make this more than not quite GBV or The Pollard Clearing House of Intriguing Song Fragments. On Sgt. Disco, a full-blooded offspring of The Harold Pig Memorial, we find the band pushing to bridge post- punk psych with pop impulses. It is the mirror opposite of the enjoyable but pretty conservative Normal Happiness. It nearly makes me back off from my predictable but true criticism of of the Tobias/Pollard. I think that Circus Devils has become a clear division in Bob's body of work. Some songs are just best served by the prog pop punk freak-out that is their stock in trade. I would go so far as to say this is the entry point for getting into the Circus Devils' style I am not sure you can come to this fresh without atleast liking Pollard's other work. Still the adventurous open rock music listener could do much worse than giving this a go. Now we are in the part where I should point out high points yet I find this to be unusual in this regard. I must admit that I have not listened to the whole thing. I have yet to crack the last 7 track. It is so rich that I stop out of exhaustion rather than frustration. But I know this much...I will listen to the rest of this before the next one is released. I have no idea what I'd cut and still keep returning to it... right from the top! It is an album unique not only in Bob's cannon but in rock in general. A broad and massive collection that intrigues as much as it drains you. In this world of one stand records and brief sonic infatuations, this is the real thing. A really tight and consuming collection of psych-punk.

in the summer of 1967, the beatles released sgt. pepper.

in the summer of 2007, circus devils released sgt. disco.

these two events are of equal artistic importance. sgt. disco can be interpreted as a musical almanac, taking in rock, pop, psych, prog, new wave, music hall, pantomime, science fiction, heavy metal, beat poetry & jazz, and somehow alchemically fusing them all into a new style of music that didn't exist heretofore. my only criticism is that it's too good...you have to be a record collector or a madman to truly appreciate just how staggeringly brilliant it really is and understand how it's done.

much like trout mask replica, another 2 lp set that inhabits the same rarified air of mystery, wild invention, and runaway genius, sgt. disco succeeds as music, as poetry, as entertainment, as enlightenment, as irony. as moving in it's way as the end of the film the shining, the paintings of max ernst, the black and white morality plays in early twilight zone episodes. each song is a fully realized vignette of the mind --where robert pollard's lyrics langourously twist across, through, above and below todd tobias' music, the two playing off each other in unpredicatable and illuminating ways, organically related to each other in a way that goes beyond songcraft in to a realm that makes you forget you're listening to a pop record.

this to my ears as a long-time listener is as superb a record as univervals truths and cycles or bee thousand - that fresh, that unique. circus devils gives pollard the freedom to indulge the true range of his vocal characterizations, ranging from the ominous backwoods narrative style of 'george took a shovel' to a carnaby street barker in 'war horsies', punctuating his lyrics with his trademark vocal precision that rewards repeated listening, the musical performance and soundscapes are mesmeric in their controlled shifts from subtle lilting beauty to high-octane intensity. and the sound is a dream...rich, warm with shimmering highs...distance miking abounds, giving a sense of wide-open spaces and atmospheres that amplify the songs.

i bought it digitally. then i splashed out on the limited edition double vinyl set. this is an album i would rate among the most important ever made -- it has the power to generate true wonder and awe in anyone that takes the time to listen.

Another Bob Pollard record that grows on you. Experimental Bob with Todd Tobias is a common theme, but the Circus Devils initiative is among the most unique in their business. This is musically well produced and conceived, while honoring the creativity and genius unique to Mssr. Pollard and Tobias. If you find yourself looking for something original in the 4P genre of rock, it is here, fundamentally, in this effort. Pop, Punk, Psych and Prog in a glorious cacophony of lyrically relevant songs and in the proper order. This is not for everyone, but it could be. If everyone suddenly got cool about what was important and original in rock today, Sgt. Disco would rule the world!

Since there are no other reviews for this album yet, I guess I will have to write one...
First of all, this review takes into account that you are reading this with at least some sort of familiarity with Robert Pollard and his many solo recordings as well as the vast Guided By Voices catalog.
Lately all of the various recordings from Pollard in collaboration with Tim Tobias (which really is the vast majority of his solo and collaborative efforts since the demise of GBV) have seemed to go somewhat down in quality with each release as a sense of predictability sets in and the relatively slick production is a very hit and miss approach for the master of lo-fi.
Give it a 5 or 6 listens however and Sgt. Disco really shines as something unique and interesting. Like the four previous Circus Devils albums, the songs range greatly stylistically and Pollard does veer in the exaggerated near-parody voice that has marred most of his recordings in the last few years, however here it works much better then it has before and adds an ominous vibe to songs that can only improve with more atmosphere. It is a dark sort of psychedelia, but one that lives up to that term, it is an album that is at the same time mind-expanding, hipnotic and with a good beat.