Day 80: Guided by Voices and The Jam

Album 246/1031

Guided By Voices - Alien Lanes (1995)

All songs written by Robert Pollard unless otherwise noted.

1.   "A Salty Salute" (R. Pollard, Tobin Sprout) – 1:29

2.   "Evil Speakers" – 0:58

3.   "Watch Me Jumpstart" – 2:24

4.   "They're Not Witches" (Greg Demos, Jim Pollard, R. Pollard) – 0:51

5.   "As We Go Up, We Go Down" – 1:37

6.   "(I Wanna Be a) Dumbcharger" – 1:13

7.   "Game of Pricks" – 1:33

8.   "The Ugly Vision" – 1:34

9.   "A Good Flying Bird" (Sprout) – 1:07

10. "Cigarette Tricks" (Demos, J. Pollard, R. Pollard, Sprout) – 0:18

11. "Pimple Zoo" – 0:42

12. "Big Chief Chinese Restaurant" (J. Pollard, R. Pollard) – 0:56

13. "Closer You Are" – 1:56

14. "Auditorium" (R. Pollard, Sprout) – 1:02

15. "Motor Away" (R. Pollard, Sprout) – 2:06

16. "Hit" – 0:23

17. "My Valuable Hunting Knife" – 2:00

18. "Gold Hick" – 0:30

19. "King and Caroline" (R. Pollard, Sprout) – 1:36

20. "Striped White Jets" – 2:15

21. "Ex-Supermodel" (R. Pollard, Sprout) – 1:06

22. "Blimps Go 90" – 1:40

23. "Strawdogs" (Sprout) – 1:17

24. "Chicken Blows" – 2:21

25. "Little Whirl" (Sprout) – 1:46

26. "My Son Cool" – 1:41

27. "Always Crush Me" – 1:44

28. "Alright" – 2:56

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_Lanes

Golf's verdict: HIDDEN GEM!: At least I think it might be. One of those bands whose name was familiar but had never heard. To me they sound like the indie-slacker Beatles. 28 tracks in a little under 45 minutes and most of them little crackers. Arch lyrics and great little harmonies. I will be playing this again.

Maire's verdict: Never heard of them before. Is it me or does the lead singer sound flat in some of the songs and was there snoring on one of the tracks? I still rather enjoyed it, bizarrely enough.

Album 247/1031

The Jam - Sound Effects (1980)

·         All tracks written by Paul Weller except as noted.

Side one

1.   "Pretty Green" – 2:37

2.   "Monday" – 3:02

3.   "But I'm Different Now" – 1:52

4.   "Set the House Ablaze" – 5:03

5.   "Start!" – 2:33

6.   "That's Entertainment" – 3:38

Side two

7.   "Dream Time" – 3:54

8.   "Man in the Corner Shop" – 3:12

9.   "Music for the Last Couple" (Rick Buckler, Bruce Foxton, Paul Weller) – 3:45

10. "Boy About Town" – 2:00

11. "Scrape Away" – 3:59

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_Affects

Golf's verdict: Special mention for the album cover - a brilliant pastiche of the BBC Phonographic Workshop sound effects LPs you could buy until about 20 years ago, from which many an amateur dramatic performance got its weather, traffic, doorbell, telephone and other assorted noises. The album itself is dominated by the (Taxman rip-off) "Start!" and the classic "That's Entertainment". Always liked The Jam, but never felt the need to really delve into their back catalogue in much detail. This album did not inspire me to change that view.

Maire's verdict: I do like a bit of The Jam but probably more of a 'Best of...' girl than a proper fan. 'Start!' and 'That's Entertainment' are the stand-out tracks but the rest of the album is pretty good too.