i hate the sound of guitars

My wonderful girlfriend walloped the proverbial nail right on its old beaner when she said that Hallelujah the Hills seemed to be aiming, sonically, for Neutral Milk Hotel, but achieving Guided by Voices. My (few) quibbles with this record are all things that I think involving professional studio help would have fixed (this will doubtless become a tiresome refrain). A good engineer would have captured the rich textures with a little more clarity, and a good producer might have suggested trimming the longest songs. I don’t mean it should have been given the current cliché glossy “radio-friendly” treatment, just that if it were a little higher-fi the songs would show through more clearly. Since the band has vowed to release 33 albums before breaking up (Yay!) they should have plenty of time to explore differing production values, and I, for one, can hardly wait.

But if this was almost an amazing album, it’s pretty darn spiffy as it is, and my reservations notwithstanding, “To All My Scientist Colleagues I Bid You Farewell,” is my current leading candidate for song-of-the-year. Usually singer Ryan Walsh spins gloriously delirious word-salad, but this is a completely linear narrative from the viewpoint of, yup, a resigning scientist. The band opened with it at a recent show, and I found myself riveted by every word.

Also worth mentioning: Long ago and far away I said disparaging things about Walsh’s singing voice. I formally withdraw them.