Superman Was a Rocker

The ever overly prolific Bob Pollard of Guided By Voices fame doesn’t waste a note. These songs were assembled from stray instrumental tracks Pollard found on old cassettes and then embellished with new vocal lines. Naturally, the recording quality is less than pristine — these are home-recorded 4-track tapes, after all — and there’s plenty of noodling around throughout the 13 song, 30 minute trip. “Prince Alphabet” begins as a haunting ghost chant of a tune before cutting up into random noises. “You Drove the Snake Crazy” sounds like one of Pollard’s imagined British Invasion bands with an extra vocal track singing on top of everything and occasionally losing its place in the song. “Back to the Farm” begins with a silly radio interview. Melodies poke out amongst the chaotic noise. “Fascination Attempt” is just 26 seconds of talk and tape flutter that leads into the more harmonically tuned “Love Your Spaceman.” Hardly essential, but always good fun.