Isolation Drills

Performer: Guided by Voices
Artist: Elliott Smith
Engineer: Doug Boehm; John Shough; Robert Pollard
Producer: Rob Schnapf
Distributor: TVT Records (Dist.)

Notes: The first 10,000 copies of ISOLATION DRILLS provide exclusive access to GBVs bootleg website featuring unreleased tracks, live footage and a photo gallery. This is an Enhanced audio CD which contains regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Guided By Voices: Robert Pollard, Doug Gillard, Nate Farley, Tim Tobias, Jim MacPherson. Additional personnel: Elliot Smith (piano, organ); Tobin Sprout (piano); Todd Tobias (sound effects). The Soldier String Quartet: Marlene Rice, Dave Soldier (violin); Ron Lawrence (viola); Arianne Lallemand (cello). Recorded at Loho Studios, New York, New York. This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Personnel: Robert Pollard (vocals, guitar); Doug Gillard (guitar); Marlene Rice, David Soldier (violin); Ron Lawrence (viola); Elliott Smith, Tobin Sprout (piano); Jim MacPherson (drums). Audio Mixers: Doug Boehm; Julian Joyce; Rob Schnapf. Recording information: Cro-Magnon Studios, Dayton, OH; Loho Studios, New York, NY. Unknown Contributor Role: Soldier String Quartet. ISOLATION DRILLS is another melodic, inspired addition to the Guided By Voices catalog. Produced by Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith), band leader Robert Pollard's latest collection of songs blends the lo-fi production values of previous albums with a newfound adoption of big studio aesthetics. Discarding the strings of 1999's DO THE COLLAPSE, ISOLATION DRILLS is a more straightforward rock affair, relying on Pollard's puzzling, inventive lyrics to transcend traditional sonic landscapes. Ex-Cobra Verde guitarist Doug Gillard's punchy hooks provide the perfect backdrop for Pollard's verbal shenanigans, most notably on the album's first single, "Chasing Heather Crazy," a prime example of the instantly catchy melodies that have made Pollard fans drool for years. The rest of the record alternates uptempo tracks such as "Skills Like This" and "Run Wild" with more somber efforts like "Frostman" and "Sister I Need Wine." Other standouts include "Twilight Campfighter," "The Enemy," and "Fine to See You." With ISOLATION DRILLS, Pollard proves that his creative juices continue to flow, whether on a four-track in an Ohio basement, or in a major studio in New York City.

Rolling Stone (3/29/01, p.63) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Finds the balance between frazzled serendipity and melodic luster that has long eluded them....making the case more persuasively than ever that these indie-pop godfathers should matter to more than just loyalists..." Spin (6/01, pp.152-3) - 7 out of 10 - "...Shamelessly charming, even bashfully moving....Pollard reveals sentiments more earned and earthbound than anything before..." Magnet (12-1/02, p.56) - Included in Magnet's "20 Best Albums of 2001". Magnet (4-5/01, p.75) - "...One of the band's best....reconciling Pollard's idiosyncrasies with the track-to-track consistency great rock albums demand..." CMJ (3/26/01, p.4) - "...Brilliant....it may be less esoteric and winkingly absurdist, but he's a markedly more openly honest songwriter....striking a fine balance between arena-rock and indie jangle..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.131) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[B]oasting some of Robert Pollard's most polished and sober pop."

Led by former school teacher Robert Pollard, Dayton, OH's Guided By Voices pursued an aesthetic marked by structural brevity, lo-fi sound, bizarre lyrics, and a preference for early to mid-period Who and other primal pop-rock. Pollard continually shifted the group's lineup, with a new outfit backing him on nearly every record. On 1999's DO THE COLLAPSE, GBV polished its sound considerably, bringing in Ric Ocasek as a producer. GBV played their final show on New Year's Eve 2004, however Pollard continues to write and record as a solo artist and with various collaborators.

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