Guided by Voices
Bulldog Skin
1997, Matador Records
I don’t hate “Bulldog Skin”. It’s a rocker, alright–and a trashy one, too, which is cool with me. It’s a song that sounds less like it was written than it was spat out–and there’s nothing wrong with that, either.
But I’m not passionate about it and I think I know why.
It’s the first Guided by Voices single that feels like it’s working hard to be a single. It leans into the (many) repetitions of the hook in predictible ways. It’s not a transfixing jewel like “I Am a Scientist” or “The Official Ironmen Rally Song”. It also has none of the white hot catharsis of “Motor Away”.
But then again, why even ask it to measure up to any of that?
Do I need another “I Am a Scientist” or “Motor Away”?
Not really. Jewels are rare. Meanwhile, rock bands keep going and sometimes their best new songs are stowed away on the album rather than released as singles–and this was true of Guided by Voices in 1997. We’ll talk about that in the next installment of this series, which will be for Mag Earwhig!, an LP that I love.
For now though, it’s all about “Bulldog Skin”, a single that I totally think ISN’T BAD. It exists and I’m not offended.
What a ringing endorsement!
I love what it’s about. “Bulldog Skin” is an old guy’s anthem. It’s about how aging is a cool thing. It means that you’ve been around the block. You know a little somethin’ about a little somethin’. You have a past. You have stories. You haven’t always been perfect. You’ve fucked up here and there, but, hey, you’re still alive. You have bulldog skin and you earned every wrinkle. To have bulldog skin is to not only wear your years, but be comfortable with it.
Robert Pollard wasn’t THAT old when he recorded this song (he was 38 or 39), but he was old by indie rock standards–and he was fine with that. He was old enough to not care (that period in the early 2000s when he dyed his hair, notwithstanding).
That’s what this song is about.
“I’m old and fuck you.”
Meanwhile, the music sounds like a likably sloppy combination of Rolling Stones swagger with Roy Wood’s moments of weird bombast. I’ll take it. “Bulldog Skin” is a lightweight song that had many–too many–expectations heaped onto it as the big advance single from the new Guided by Voices album. It even boasted the band’s most professional-looking video. Now, it’s twenty-two years later and none of that matters. Now, it’s just an old song. It’s got bulldog skin.
The 1997 B-sides are good stuff. Guided by Voices take after a lot of 1960s psych, but they hadn’t yet covered the Indian-influenced song. They hadn’t yet hung out with the Maharishi… until this record’s fun “The Singing Razorblade”. There’s no sitar, but the song begins with an exotic chant of the title and then the rest of it casually rises like incense smoke. It’s not a perfect imitation. It sounds like a garage band who just lit up some Nag Champa in their practice space.
“Now to War (Electric Version)” is, indeed, a muscled up take on an acoustic song from Mag Earwhig!, one of the album’s best. If the LP version is an intimate, face-to-face moment, this one booms across the room. There’s more than one way to say “This is war”. The melody is strong either way. Pollard favored the quiet version, but still felt that the deep-diggers needed to hear this one, too. I see nothing wrong here.
In a truly SHOCKING development, the best B-side though is only on CD. Yep, “Mannequin’s Complaint (Wax Dummy Meltdown)” only got to flex its creepy cartoon-world psychedelia in the digital realm. 7″ listeners were deprived. It’s worth seeking out. It’s a pure studio creation. Not made for the stage. It’s overdubbed, razor-edited, distorted and bonkers all around. In this song, mean guitar riffing meets menacing music box twinkles and a rowdy sea shanty chorus. One listen and I’m stoned.
You can get it on the CD release of this single OR on the band’s Hardcore UFOs box set that came out on Matador in 2003. A different version of it also showed up in 2005 on Suitcase 2.