Do The Collapse

I came to GBV late in life. I was aware of their place in quintessential indie, DIY roots and college radio play but I never really got into their ever expanding catalogue of innovative and sometimes garage, LO-FI, sub four minute, odd pop rock sound. I stumbled on GBV while tune cruising on YouTube and heard ‘Teenage FBI’ which I remembered from a CJSR broadcast so long ago. I dived down the GBV rabbit hole and promptly got lost in the brilliance of Robert Pollard and the varying line-up of the band. Check their discography. Add in singles and EP’s, Demos, Best Ofs or any of the other solo projects and collaborations and you have a body of work and pleasure that spans 36 years.

‘Hold On Hope’ is not their best song from 2000 but ranking any of their work is near impossible given the sheer volume of their releases. They have been prolific to be sure but ‘HOH’ came to resonate with me at a time when there didn’t seem to be much of it to go around. I have since added the word ‘hope’ to my list of problematic words. Hope is replaced by resilience and marginal confidence. GBV is among many bands that have continuously proven their resilience and significance over time. There is a resurgence of bands of the past rising to release again. Swervedriver, Slowdive, Killing Joke, Mogwai, Sigur Ros, Explosions In The Sky, The New Pornographers and even Rain Parade come to my mind and ears. That great bands stay in it and remain relevant to my ears and mind brings confidence.

HOLD ON HOPE – FROM ‘ DO THE COLLAPSE ‘

Every street is dark
And folding out mysteriously
Where lies the chance we take to be
Always working
Reaching out for a hand that we
can’t see
Everybody’s got a hold on hope
It’s the last thing that’s holding me

Invitation to the last dance
Then it’s time to leave
But that’s the price we pay
when we deceive
One another/animal mother
She opens up for free
Everybody’s got a hold on hope
It’s the last thing that’s
holding me

Look at the talkbox in mute
frustration
At the station
There hides the cowboy
His campfire flickering
on the landscape

That nothing grows on
But time still goes on
And through each life of misery
Everybody’s got a hold on hope
It’s the last thing that’s holding me

Discography – The Albums

Devil Between My Toes (1987)

• Sandbox (1987)
• Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia (1989)
• Same Place the Fly Got Smashed (1990)
• Propeller (1992)
• Vampire on Titus (1993)
• Bee Thousand (1994)
• Alien Lanes (1995)
• Under the Bushes Under the Stars (1996)
• Tonics & Twisted Chasers (1996)
• Mag Earwhig! (1997)
• Do the Collapse (1999)
• Isolation Drills (2001)
• Universal Truths and Cycles (2002)
• Earthquake Glue (2003)
• Half Smiles of the Decomposed (2004)
• Let’s Go Eat the Factory (2012)
• Class Clown Spots a UFO (2012)
• The Bears for Lunch (2012)
• English Little League (2013)
• Motivational Jumpsuit (2014)
• Cool Planet (2014)
• Please Be Honest (2016)
• August by Cake (2017)
• How Do You Spell Heaven (2017)
• Space Gun (2018)
• Zeppelin Over China (2019)
• Warp and Woof (2019)
• Sweating the Plague (2019)
• Surrender Your Poppy Field (2020)^[43]
• Mirrored Aztec (2020)^[44]
• Styles We Paid For (2020)^[45]
• Earth Man Blues (2021)
• It’s Not Them. It Couldn’t Be Them. It Is Them! (2021)
• Crystal Nuns Cathedral (2022)^[46]
• Tremblers and Goggles by Rank (2022)^[47]
• La La Land (2023)
• Welshpool Frillies (2023)

How many songs have GBV written, published and performed? See for yourself. Some of the song titles are sure to draw you in. ‘Kicker of Elves’? ‘Game of Pricks’? ‘Goggles By Rank’?

https://www.gbvdb.com/tracks.asp