Customer Reviews

Sunfish Holy Breakfast

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This cd marks the end of one of the most fruitful music relationships ever--and definitely the best collaboration of the 90's--Pollard and Sprout. Although this cd is basically a compilation of unreleased tracks, it was the last thing that GBV, the little engine that could, put out before Mr. Pollard gave pink slips to his whole band and started over.

And it's glorious. If you only like newer GBV, this may not be the place to start. This is lo-fi. But every song on this EP is beautiful. GBV weren't a band that really thrived on the EP's too much--they focused more on making coherent albums--but this EP as well as Fast Japanese Spin Cycleare essential for any GBV fan, and especially for one whose prefers the Bee Thousand/Alien Lanes era.

If We Wait is, on its own, justification to buy this cd. It's one of GBV's best songs.

I am stingy on 5 star reviews, so I'm giving this 4. Alien Lanes and Bee Thousand are the two GBV releases that truly deserve 5 stars.

if you're new to guided by voices you may want to steer clear of this one. even me, a hardcore fan, needed time to warm up to this EP. previous reviews are undeniably correct, some of the tracks are barely audible. however, as is the case with every gbv release, there are gems of genius that make sunfish holy breakfast worth getting (e.g. Contest Featuring Human Beings, Winter Cows, If We Wait).

This was one of my first GBV records, and I somehow lost it. Very depressing since I didn't know that it was somewhat rare when I got it. I'm not an expert at finding music on the internet, but I've finally managed to get most of the songs over time.

Anyway, there are some really good tunes on this one. "If We Wait" is probably the best, but the whole thing is good and very much worth getting if you're a fan. Yes, even if it costs you fifty bucks.

If you like the ramshackle lo-fi days of GBV, you should have no problem with this. In the blink and you missed it style of so much GBV and Pollard material, it rewards on frequent returns. Jabberstroker reminded me of how much I enjoyed Tobin's contributions. Cocksoldiers eludes to the epics like Redmen and Their Wives albeit in minature. Trendspotter Acrobat exposes a rare and enjoyable Greer vocal. Stabbing a Star rates up there with the rock haikus that made up the Alien Lanes album. Since everbody has already touted the very cool If We Wait I see no reason to refute it. Okay so it is not essential but if you love the band I don't see why you'd complain. Not a place to start but a fine addition to that ever-expanding collection of GBV related projects.

Sweet stuff...9 great songs (Trendspotter Acrobat is awful). Heavy Metal Country is perfect.

The other guy, and his friend, have it all wrong. The fact is Bob Pollards outtakes rock more than most bands greatest albums. Sunfish Holy Breakfast is authentic GBV, each song is gaurunteed to whet your whistle and have you singing along in no time. This CD is not just for collectors of GBV music, but fans of pure rock.

This is not new GBV material, but rather a set of unreleased songs and two essential singles. A friend of mine, while listening to this said, "You know, Robert Pollard's outtakes just aren't something I ever wanted to hear", and he's got a point. Much of this is annoying little wanna be songs that don't go anywhere. Fortunately, there's "Stabbing A Star", a fantastic pop piece from the early 90's, "Jabberstroker", a neat Tobin Sprout voice/guitar piece, and "If We Wait", another wonderful early single that sounds like a 50's song... The rest have neat titles and little else to offer. But for the price, these three killers are worth it... For GBV fans, that is.

Certainly the best Guided by Voices EP (and at ten songs, a very generous EP), but on most days I'd argue it's their best release period. If you are already a fan, seek it out and it will be one of your most cherished possessions.

...but if you want an example of the absolute worst recording ever, this is it. Who the hell knows if this is good music when it sounds like it was recorded in a tin can? Seriously, I dig this genre in general, but the recording is absolutely so terrible and so distorted that is sounds like an LP that got chewed up by the dog. My wife commented if I was serious with this album...she thought it was a joke for how completely bad something could sound.