Guided by Voices
Suitcase 2: American Superdream Wow
Release Date: Nov 8, 2005
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Record label: Recordhead
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Album Review: Suitcase 2: American Superdream Wow by Guided by Voices
Average, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 5/10
It's a treat for fans to get this kind of access to Pollard's development as a songwriter and to find melodies that would show up in later works: "Sacred Space" would soon become "Office of Hearts," "Daughter of the Gold Rush" begat "Volcano Divers," and there's a bit of the Bee Thousand castoff "Deathrot and Warlock Riding a Rooster" in "Beach Towers" (as well as the influence of Blue Öyster Cult). But it's the 1988 recording of the song "Rocket Head" that provides the greatest thrill, as many years later it would turn into "Teenage FBI," one of GBV's finest numbers. There are also glimpses of early cracks at writing and recording, one result being a little tune from 1980 called "Metro XVI" that sounds like excited kids attempting to play new wave.
Opinion: Excellent
It’s anyone’s guess what compels Robert Pollard to continue making music. He’s already outperformed his own rock ‘n’ roll heroes – if not in fidelity and cash-flow, than in sheer prolificacy. Yet there’s more behind Pollard’s musical drive than morbid self-actualization. It's no good to merely catalog his recordings like an indie-rock file clerk.