Kid Marine (1999)
#1 in the Fading Captain Series. In the past, Bob was known to “shitcan” albums he was working on, moving onto another project instead. Now that he had the freedom and flexibility with the Fading Captain Series, there was no longer a need to shitcan material. In 1999 alone, Pollard released three new LPs (
Kid Marine,
Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department,
Do the Collapse), an EP (
Ask Them by Lexo and the Leapers), a compilation (
In Shop We Build Electric Chairs: Professional Music by Nightwalker 1984-1993) and a trio of singles (“Surgical Focus”, “Teenage FBI” and “Hold on Hope”).
Kid Marine is a quasi-rock opera about a drunken war veteran in Ohio, Jeff “Kid Marine” Davis. In an interview with
Mojo, Pollard commented on the album:
My personal favorite: a weird record, almost a concept album, about the typical Ohio male and what he does - drink, watch television, eat pizza. It got mixed reviews; there are people who hate it and others who think it's our best record and I'm on their side. I just love the songs. It feels like one piece, like it all fits together. I like the cover and I like the whole package.
There’s an honest, Midwestern blue-collar theme that runs throughout the record, starting with the excellent cover photo and fantastic lyrics like “Great days are becoming a matchlight liquor establishment where the factory soaks its scabs.” The majority of the songs are Pollard-penned poetry that were later set to music. Many fans and critics point to this album as where there was a noticeable shift in Bob’s style and songwriting. On
Kid Marine, Pollard largely eschews those trademark hooks in favor of more esoteric songwriting. There’s also a subtle droning sound that lies underneath much of the record, providing a mysterious vibe and tying it together. The album was recorded and mixed in five days, with most of the tracks engineered by John Shough at Cro-Magnon Studios in Dayton, OH. A couple of the lo-fi tracks done in Greg Demos’ basement, and the fabulous “Powerblessings” was recorded in Tobin Sprout’s basement. Pollard played all the guitars for the album, with Jim Macpherson back on the drums and former GBV member, Greg Demos, playing bass. This album didn't immediately grab me. I was introduced to it more from the perspective of cherry-picking some of the tracks for a variety of Pollard mix-tapes and playlists ("Submarine Teams", "Powerblessings" and "White Gloves Come Off"). When I made the commitment to go deep down the Pollard rabbit hole I really got to appreciate what a great record this is. The individual tracks are good to great, with a couple of okay ones thrown in. But this is truly an album where the adage "The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts" is a fitting descriptor.
1.
Submarine Teams – Opens with a bizarre tremolo voice effect that maintains throughout the entire song. I wonder if Jim Pollard pounded on Bob’s back as he did on
Alien Lanes’ “Chicken Blows” to achieve this effect. Either way, this track absolutely soars and features some incredible, double-tracked guitar work. For the third consecutive solo project, Bob knocks it out of the park with the opener. Fantastic acoustic guitar outro. “Shocked by a whaling umpire’s trumpet, the starter gargles the salt brine. The stoned nation’s rolling eyelids. The moments of gory league highlights.” (10)
2.
Flings of the Waistcoat Crowd – Fidelity drops a notch on this excellent sparse, acoustic track. Another fantastic vocal performance from Bob. Recorded onto an 8-track in Greg Demos’ basement. “Great days are becoming a matchlight liquor establishment where the factory soaks its scabs. It hangs there like insectrocutioner.” (9)
3.
The Big Make-Over – Love that guitar riff that repeats throughout the track. This one chugs right along with another great Pollard vocal melody. “Pull into the station. Gotta get gassed, for the opening of the new highway.” (8)
4.
Men Who Create Fright – A nervous, frantically played fiddle in the background always reminds me of the opening to The Tubes “She’s a Beauty”. Pollard starts out with his vocals all reverbed. Songs drifts a bit aimlessly until that buzzing guitar comes in at the fifty second mark, transforming the track into something that would excite GBV fans from that magical
Under the Bushes Under the Stars period. Settles back into a similar spot it began in during the outro. “When you exist, are you observable? When you resist, are you approachable? When you pretend, are you unreadable?” (8)
5.
Television Prison – Loud, crude garage rocker with some Devo-inspired energy. Bob’s wife at the time, Kim Pollard, supplies the blood-curdling scream. Pollard channels his inner rock god on the guitar solo to close the song. (7)
6.
Strictly Comedy – Bob’s vocals buried deep in the mix. Some cool-sounding keyboards holding this one together. “A world coming up for air that one should even care? Created for infatuation, dig the accompanying play, right? Uptight.” (8)
7.
Far-Out Crops – Takes a little bit to get going. Bob slowly spitting out lyrics in a deep voice. Occasionally a guitar is lightly strummed. Then that electric guitar riff appears, and this one really takes off. Chainsaw guitars buzzing away. We get some falsetto Pollard during the chorus. Back to acoustic strumming during the outro. Bob still belting out those falsetto vocals till his voice seems to give out. “Single-minded erections, not so observable from the inside. You must listen. You must look.” (10)
8.
Living Upside Down – Repetitive, pulsing guitar and synth washes go on with Pollard’s vocals way back in the mix. Shifts a bit at the 1:15 with an additional guitar part coming into the mix, but this track never really goes anywhere. My least favorite song on the record. (4)
9.
Snatch Candy – Guitar effects sound a bit like Radiohead’s “Creep”. Has a bit of a Dinosaur Jr. vibe to it as well. Guitar sounds slow and heavy, almost like it is about to fall apart. Name checks “Flings of the Waistcoat Crowd” in the lyrics. Bob’s vocals filled with melancholy. Those great keyboards from “Strictly Comedy” make a welcome reappearance. “Dead father-type husbands have given them a world. A care-free world, sugarless.” (9)
10.
White Gloves Come Off – Another great acoustic ballad buoyed by that keyboard (I think) that seems to bubble underneath many of the tracks here. It sort of blends into the background, but if you really listen, you can hear it. Creates a nice eerie vibe that weaves throughout the album. Love those Ooooooooooooo-ooooo-ooooo-ooo’s during the outro. “A pink clock becomes blurred - white gloves come off. Titled cubicles galvanized - white gloves come off. Shocker breath & television woman - white gloves come off.” (9)
11.
Enjoy Jerusalem! – Gloomy, hypnotic song that sort of sounds like it was made to sound like a ticking grandfather clock. That noise I mention above still bubbling underneath. The electric guitar that slinks in during the later section has a similar tone to the one on “The Big Make-Over”. (6)
12.
You Can’t Hold Your Women – Some of us get accused, rightfully so in many situations, of not being able to hold our liquor. I suppose this twist on the old adage also has merit in a lot of situations. Begins with a peppy piano part that just can’t seem to hold together. Some pulsating soft guitar strums eventually morph into an up-tempo, hard-charging rocker. The chainsaw guitars eventually give way to a brief blast of feedback and the track just cuts out. “You, the creator of self pain, in the house you built on stilts, above the crashing waves. Psychic realtor.” (7)
13.
Town of Mirrors – Starts out slow and somewhat solemn with troubadour Bob playfully working his way through the lyrics. Just after a minute and a half of this exercise, the song takes a dramatic shift with Bob singing a cappella “Oh, alright” a couple of times before the band charges in. From there, Bob yells “Mutilation!” over and over. That eerie noise that’s been bubbling underneath much of the album gets louder and louder before completely drowning out the song. "In the town of mirrors, I’ll try to put on my proper playing clothes. I wanna see the magic. You are the first one I chose." (9)
14.
Powerblessings - Really neat cross-fade of the droning noise from the previous track into the beginning of this one. Recorded in Tobin Sprout’s basement onto his 8-track, this is the best song on the album. That muted, fuzzy guitar and Sprout-played keys create such a wonderful atmosphere on this track. It’s like a tiny light is mustering all it can to break through the heavy fog. Pollard’s vocals are a bit softer and deeper in the mix, but still retain a tremendous amount of power. “And have you no horse to carry you through December? Get it somehow tediously broken, breathing summer into faces of life and into everyman’s gift going through. Powerblessings to you and all of you.” (10)
15.
Island Crimes – Tracks opens with Pollard, sounding a lot like Roger Daltrey in some of the shouted lines that make appearances throughout
Quadrophenia, calling out, “What’s that voice I hear? Can you hear it, Kid Marine?” The guitar part during the opening is identical to the guitar outro on the record’s first track, “Submarine Teams”. This is a dramatic, ruminative rock opera kind of song to end the album. “Anyone can finger a target, frame a brick sky and be off. An assignment of models and also atrocities, believe in me as I see you.” (8)
You are entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.
- DPM
