Let's Go Eat The Factory (incl. download) (Vinyl)

I am amazed at how much this album's aesthetic feels as if it were plucked straight from the Vampire-Bee-Alien era. Their deliberate attempt to return to the "primative" recording methodology of their past is a complete success. It is great to hear the guys of the early 90s lineup rocking out again. As always Pollard's lyrics and melodies are top notch. This album is cause for celebration... GBV has definitely returned!!!

with GBV you have to listen to stuff a bunch of times.. one can't pop it in once .. .. just a cautionary tale for those that may be giving them a first chance or streaming a song here or there while at work.. the albums grow on you and the half fleshed out lo-fi vignettes that pepper the album and may seem like throwaways eventually - in a way by feeding and building off of the album- eventually mean something..

The first two songs that really grabbed me where Pollard's Imperial Racehorsing (love the bass/fuzzed out guitar) and Sprout's Waves.. two songs that stand next to anything else they've done in my opinion..and that was the first listen!

Is the album a very conscious attempt to sound like the classic albums?.. yes... I know for some thats offputting but for me its a good thing..I don't believe - like many- that bands must always be evolving or changing.. If the Stones could go back and record an album like Let it Bleed in sound and character with say a good percentage of songs sharing the high level of songwriting would that be a bad thing?

The Pollard chorus on the last track:"If you want some, if you need some.. " and the harmonies "AAHH AHH AAAH.." are classic GBV

The album is full of moments like that.....the bass guitar on Waves for example which recalls many such great moments on Alien Lanes..and in my opinion it stands up to Guided By Voices 1993-1996 stuff...

Other highlights are Either Nelson (I assume he's talking about Rick Nelson but can't tell who the other is) and Cyclone..

The more immediate songs like Unsinkable Fats Domino, Doughnut and Chocolate Boy are typical catchy creamy hook laden GBV...but its the deeper cuts mentioned above, and others, that make the album for me..

To have Demos, Sprout, Mitchell and Fennell with JIMMY POLLARD too.. recording a classic type old school GBV album is a good thing! Can't wait til they tour...

Tobin Sprout is all over this album!..Doing what he does best which is playing the George Harrison to Pollard's Lennon/McCartney... he has 6 songs he wrote but maybe even more importantly he did a lot of production work on the rest.. Mitch Mitchell's guitar sound is instantly recognizable also..and there are writing contributions from everybody but Fennell..meaning Demos, Mitchell, SProut, B. Pollard and his brother.. so this album sounds like a classic GBV album which is a good thing! I can't imagine any GBV fan that liked the early GBV run not liking this album.. Now if you go into it expecting it to instantly sound like Bee Thousand well that won't work.. how could it?

Note on LP; it is a gatefold with lyrics, artwork..sort of reminds me of Alien Lanes in its presentation. Also not sure if its mentioned but the LP comes with a download card in case that sorta thing floats your boat.

When I heard there was an album of all-new material to be released by the Guided By Voices "classic lineup", I wondered if it would sound like a whole band in which Robert Pollard was just the vocalist, or if would sound like another Pollard solo album or side project.

I was happy to find that with "Let's Go Eat The Factory" Pollard is not the focus. The focus is on the band as a whole, and the band is marvelous.

This album has some songs that will rank right up there with the best in the Guided By Voices canon. Long-time fans should rejoice over gems such as "Chocolate Boy", "Doughnut For a Snowman" and "Waves". These tracks are beautiful. Then in true GbV tradition, there are some wonderfully off-kilter moments such as the teetering "The Room Taking Shape", the strange "Big Hat And Toy Show". A few songs clock in at over three minutes, but many of them are under two minutes in length, including several at under a minute.

Stylistically speaking, Tobin Sprout's contributions seem to come from someplace between what he did with GbV in the Nineties and what he has done during his solo career. Pollard's songwriting here has a similar feel; he has refined his songcraft over the years, and some of his writing here reflects that. Advancements in home recording equipment during the last 17-18 years give "Let's Go Eat The Factory" much less of a low-fi sound than "Alien Lanes" and "Bee Thousand", and the band also uses some loops here and there. Strings are even heard in a couple of places. So while it all may sound a little different, it's all good, and it's all definitely GbV.

After the masterpieces this lineup put out long ago, I wasn't sure they could pull this off. But I figured there was a good chance they could, given that they are who they are. And I'm thrilled to know they can still do what they do, and do it so well!

Congratulations to the band on a fine effort! Listening to "Let's Go Eat The Factory" is like sitting down with old friends I haven't visited in a long time, and getting caught up... and finding that the best things about them haven't changed!

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