{"product_id":"857661008452","title":"LP Guided By Voices Tonics \u0026 Twisted Chasers","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginally released in 1996 as a limited fan-club pressing for Rockathon,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.superiorviaduct.com\/collections\/guided-by-voices\"\u003eGuided By Voices\u003c\/a\u003e'\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eTonics And Twisted Chasers\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ehas always existed as an anomaly in Robert Pollard's vast discography. In many ways, the album serves as the tail of a creative comet that in just two years included the \"classic line-up\" trilogy of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eBee Thousand\u003c\/em\u003e,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eAlien Lanes\u003c\/em\u003e,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eUnder the Bushes, Under the Stars\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eand countless singles that crammed endless hooks in their grooves. In the intervening space,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eTonics And Twisted Chasers\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ehas taken on a mythic status. It's arguably Pollard's strangest, gnarliest, most enlightened record and also the fans first chance to see the stitches that bind his galaxy of songs. It's like peering at the caliber inside a watch, responsible for making the whole enterprise tick.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis nineteen-song collaboration with guitarist Tobin Sprout could be interpreted as spontaneous sketches, late-night improvisations, ideas that blossomed later in the timeline (\"Knock 'Em Flying\" and \"Key Losers\"), but as with anything in Pollard's orbit, its intention is clear when heard as a cohesive whole. The Pollard tenet that \"less is more\" is on full display here. The songs rarely creep past ninety seconds and coalesce much like Pollard's collage-styled visual art. Arena anthems in miniature (\"158 Years of Beautiful Sex\") bash up against eerie piano laments (\"Universal Nurse Finger\") without any time to breathe, acoustic lullabies that sound like a Midwestern summer's twilight (\"Look It's Baseball\") segue into monochromatic post-rock (\"Maxwell Jump\"). The euphoric joy and obtuse melancholy in Pollard's voice is so palpable on the album's standout, \"Dayton, Ohio - 19 Something \u0026amp; 5\" (which has since become a live staple), that it's impossible to find a more autobiographical yarn in his catalog.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe album's closest analog is 1993's\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eVampire On Titus\u003c\/em\u003e, as it contains that album's prickly, dark and shimmering obfuscation that only reveals its beauty after repeated listens.\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eTonics And Twisted Chasers\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003emaintains the lore because the melodies are so strong. Using a primitive drum machine, Radio Shack effects, minimal instrumentation and the DIY spirit that guided them in the first place, Pollard and Sprout construct a masterpiece of pop that could only come from a basement in north Dayton, Ohio. Anyone in that hallowed era who happened upon it, kept it as a secret.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTrack Listing:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSatellite\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDayton, Ohio - 19 Something \u0026amp; 5\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIs She Ever?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMy Thoughts Are A Gas (Fucked Up Version)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKnock 'Em Flying\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Top Chick's Silver Chord\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKey Losers\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHa Ha Man\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWingtip Repair\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAt The Farms\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUnbaited Vicar of Scorched Earth\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOptional Bases Opposed\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLook, It's Baseball\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMaxwell Jump\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Stir-Crazy Pornographer\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e158 Years of Beautiful Sex\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUniversal Nurse Finger\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSadness Is To End\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReptilian Beauty Secrets\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e","brand":"Forced Exposure","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50285739245877,"sku":"857661008452","price":32.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0739\/4289\/2853\/files\/SV204-web_large_96464c50-effb-4d34-a0cb-e2f7f0c8b72b.jpg?v=1732487488","url":"https:\/\/researchdevstore.myshopify.com\/products\/857661008452","provider":"Research \u0026 Development Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}