Robert Pollard
Motel of Fools
2003, The Fading Captain Series
By 2003, it was clear that Robert Pollard had no interest in listening to his critics.
Those who couldn’t keep up with his 4-5 albums a year were just going to have to catch up later maybe.
Those who didn’t know what to make of projects such as Circus Devils were just going to have to remain confused.
Those who wanted only pop from Pollard and had no ear for his weird, personal Midwestern psychedelia were just going to have to miss out.
In the meantime, he continued to move forward, like any real artist would do, and make strange and wonderful things like Motel of Fools.
As Guided by Voices settled into a sound–a muscled classic rock kick made for the stage–Pollard’s other projects became the place where he did his searching. Much like how early Guided by Voices albums were always different from each other, Pollard solo releases at this time always took a turn that the previous ones didn’t.
Motel of Fools went for home-brewed, shoestring prog-rock. It has only seven tracks, which is normal for prog records, but this one blazes through ’em in just over thirty minutes. It’s modest and ambitious at the same time. It’s also weird and funny and another melodic marvel.
Continue reading “Robert Pollard-Mania! #78: MOTEL OF FOOLS”
