Boston Spaceships, Zero to 99

review by dave heaton

Zero to 99 opens with a little GBV cast-off, a dingy bit of weirdness called “Pluto the Skate”. It’s a reminder that Robert Pollard’s now up for mining old material (a good move with such fertile ground). It’s also an indication of the album’s cut-and-paste, quick fix approach. That’s really a revisit of the style of Alien Lanes. Press releases for Pollard albums often break out that “catchiest album since Alien Lanes” comparison. Here it makes sense, but not in the way you’d expect. This is “catchy” because the format is catchy: quick hits. The songwriting is like all recent Pollard, a mix of great melodies and somewhat leaden ones, interesting lyrics and too-typical ones. Maybe it’s a notch better than that, but it could just be the weird energy of it that gilds everything. In any case it works well, really channels the general creative energy / aesthetic spirit of his collage-based career.

And there are great songs. “How Wrong You Are” takes one of Pollard’s best choruses yet and purposely plays it off uglier-sounding verses. “Radical Amazement” is a triumphant rocker that jokes around with the creative process and audience expectations. “Found Obstruction Rock N’ Roll” is a great bizarre theme song. “Question Girl All Right” is a typically surreal ballad, whether love-song, self-help advice or nonsense. They continually vary the tempo, keeping things surprising and fun. The album gets slightly messier and weirder as it proceeds, into alley-rock (“Trashed Aircraft Baby” and “Psycho Is a Bad Boy”), a would-be soliloquy from a non-existent rock opera (“Godless”), a mix of slapdash and hopeful balladry (“Go Inside”), and an almost ridiculously catchy theme song for a would-be cartoon star (“Mr. Ghost Town”), who seems like an aging rocker hitting on younger women. There’s been a cynical, even bitter side, to much recent Pollard material. Here he approaches it playfully, mining his smart-ass nature for gold instead of shooting himself in the foot with it. Here it’s central to the album’s charm, entwined with his artistic restlessness.

{www.boston spaceships.com}