Employing the same Buckeye ingenuity that keeps the Goodyear blimp afloat, Robert Pollard can polish a turd with Budweiser until it shines with 24-carat radiance, transmuting a tossed-off, six-pack idea into a classic rock artifact or at the very least a beguiling no-fi curio. As captain of the drunken boat that is Guided By Voices, Pollard built a cottage industry by churning out cheap, miniature melodic masterpieces with all the fidelity of a ham radio broadcast. He does it with volume — by which I mean quantity not loudness. As such, the discography remains daunting if only for its sheer scope. If you are new to the Pollard saga, know that he is hands-down the most gifted, beguiling and, by a wide margin, prolific songwriter of the indie-rock era. By his own count he has released upwards of 80 records, including 20 Guided By Voices albums, 19 solo albums and countless LPs, EPs and seven-inch singles from his endless string of one-off collaborations and side projects, among them Boston Space Ships, Airport 5, Circus Devils, Acid Ranch, Lifeguards, The Moping Swans, Lexo & The Leapers, Hazzard Hot Rods and Howling Wolf Orchestra. Pollard is a lifer. He shoots himself with rock n’ roll. The hole he digs is bottomless, but nothing else can set him free. Philadelphia has smiled on Guided By Voices ever since the band broke from the twilight obscurity of Dayton some 20-plus years ago, packing the Khyber time and again to watch Pollard baptize himself with Budweiser and belch out the greatest songs never heard — and for one beery moment everything still seemed possible. Which is why their set at Project Pabst tomorrow will invariably remind us why we fell in love with the mythology of scissor-kicking, wind-milling, power-chording, beer-pounding, ex-teacher old schoolers building four-track masterpieces in the basements of the Midwest all those years ago. – JONATHAN VALANIA
GBV PLAYS PROJECT PABST @ ELECTRIC FACTORY PARKING LOT SAT. @ 5:30 PM
CONTEST: We have a pair of tix to PROJECT PABST — featuring GBV, Animal Collective, Hop Along, Mac DeMarco, Beach Slang, Diarrhea Planet & The Rebirth Brass Band — to give away to some lucky Phawker reader. Time is short so we will make this easy. The 42nd Phawker reader to email us at Phawker66@gmail.com with the correct answer to the following GBV trivia question wins: What do “Glad Girls” always want to do? Put the magic words GAME OF PRICKS in the subject line. Include your full name and mobile number for confirmation. Good luck and godspeed!