SAN
FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN, JANUARY 12-18, 2005
By Kimberly Chun (TOP 10 OF 2004 SELECTION!)
DOUG
GILLARD - Salamander (Pink Frost)
Think of Guided
by Voices lead guitarist Doug Gillard¹s solo debut, Salamander,
as a Cleveland rock Sideways. Unpretentious, human, verging-on-middle-aged
side-guy soul, with a healthy pour of heart. There¹s even a
sorta-schmaltzy image of a wine bottle on the cover. But open it
up, and you¹ll find that it¹s a mature not musty, tasty
not tacky, lean not lame, keeping-it-real bouquet of sensitive midtempo
rock flavors " you know, the stuff of not-so-svelte, Rogaine-free
manly feeling that GBV once secretly specialized in. Oh yeah, and
it¹s good, really good.
Salamander Œs first three tracks sum up the differences between
the former Cobra Verde and Death of Samantha guitarist¹s newly
uncorked vintage indie and GBV¹s now-flattened Bud. The opening
song " a breezy ditty titled "Valpolicella" (not
"Pinot Noir"; the Sideways comparison only goes so far)
" is an effortless and enjoyable sip of pop, perfectly complemented
by the lumbering crunch of the bandmate-loyalty love song "Wait
for You." Then Gillard seals the rock-solid fate of Salamander
with the coulda-been-GBV ballad "Going Back (to You)."
That song has all the spare melodicism Gillard brought to GBV, though
none of Robert Pollard¹s lyrical twists. Sure, words are the
weakest links here, and Gillard tends to prefer the comfort of closure
when it comes to writing his own songs, in contrast to GBV¹s
more haywire tendencies, but who¹s complaining when the guitarist
captures an emotional turning point so exquisitely, with so little.
Though ethereal solo-Beatles-ish songs like "Momma" are
startlingly touching, and reminiscent of songs off Gillard¹s
Malamute Jute EP (Cushion, 1999), the rocky tunes stand out "
including the martial "Symbols, Signs," the clangy Œ60s
girl-group pop "(But) I See Something," and the lovably
lunkish "Give Me Something," which finds Gillard sounding
like he¹s taking a page on playing dumb from Our Bad Girl of
Oberlin Liz Phair¹s book. In all, Salamander adds up to an
insinuatingly addictive recording " a quaffable, classico take
on GBV¹s tipsier moments of indie rock-o. |
