Bob's Drive-In by Bob Drake
Recommended by: grindy
No idea who this guy is at all, but when I googled him there were more results regarding a car manufacturer than there were sites about the musician. According to Wikipedia he's a multi-instrumentalist who belongs to the avant-rock/experimental genre, this could and should be interesting.
Keep Light Away From This Product - This isn't what I expected, it's opened with some fast-paced folk rock stuff, a nice and heavy bass-line in the background. As the song continues on it goes through plenty of different passages and I suppose that's where it gets the experimental label, for how many different sounds are crammed in here, but all in all it feels rather grounded so far.
I didn't catch all of the lyrics, and can't seem to find anything on this album online, but it kind of seems like there's a certain silly method to his song-writing that's kind of admirable, we'll see if that keeps on.
Recreational Guide to the Solar System - Have you ever wanted to hear a song that features a man dissecting each planet that forms our very own solar system? This one is for you then. It's exactly what the song name would imply, a guide to the Solar System with some decent progressive rock instrumentation backing it. I enjoy the drugged out psych influence that comes into play in the closing minute or so.
Don't Ask A Cat - In some areas this one reminds me more so of chamber rock, but it certainly still has the same progressive and at times folky inspiration that the earlier tracks introduced. Lyrically, this one is exceptional, as Drake dives into the secret lives of cats, and just how mysterious they are.
I wasn't sure about this album at the start, but it's just so ****ing over the top and ridiculous that I'm loving it so far. It's not laugh out loud funny which would deter from his musical prowess, but instead his weird, quirky songwriting just keeps the album constantly exciting and entertaining.
Pardon My Varmint - If I'm being completely honest, a lot of this guy's guitar work reminds me of Figure 8 era Elliott Smith. Seriously, check this out.
But anyway, this is song isn't stellar, but it's a decent cut that just suffers from following an awesome track about cats. He does take advantage of the extra time on this track(at least compared to the earlier cuts) to fit in a little more progression, and some odd time signatures near the tail end of the song.
Sad and Indifferent Animals Wearing Scarves - I could listen to this guy sing about animals forever, I think. Has he made a zoo themed album? His lyrical style is so amusing, and the way he manages to fit a quick little guitar solo in this thing as well is no small feat.
Lesser-Known Explorers of the Arctic - The longest track on the album, this one clocks in at 4 and a half minutes, which is truly shocking considering how the prog-rock roots this project has. There's a decent guitar interlude to kick it off, and that leads into Drake's story of, well, lesser-known arctic explorers. I wish I could find lyrics online, because I'm missing bits and pieces here and there, I'll have to listen to this one back.
To be completely honest, I keep forgetting I'm listening to an avant-rock album. Sure the lyrics are very out there, but for most of the songs the instrumentation doesn't stray all that far away, and aside from moments like the freak-out half way through this track, it feels more like just a prog album.
Everybody Wants to Meet My Raccoon - This weekend I totally demolished a raccoon when I was driving my friend's van, and so this one is bringing up some serious guilt.
The whole time I'm listening to this raccoon based love song, I'm picturing this in my head.
I feel like I don't have much to add on this one. I've dug nearly everything this guy has done so far on this project, and he hasn't changed the formula, whatever the **** that really is, so far.
Earthquake Light - See above. A lot of these tracks are so short that I can't think of anything else to add.
Phantom Forerunner - Breaking out the banjo for this one. Does he play all of the instruments on this? He's a damn good multi-instrumentalist if so, as he seems fairly talented with all of these. There seemed to be a couple Mr. Bungle-esque moments on this, definitely one of the weirder cuts.
A Sunny Day in Nairobi - Here's an image of a National Park in Nairobi to help with those of you who aren't familiar with the place
Holy ****, this song reminds me of the TV shows from other dimensions they show on Rick & Morty. The fact that it starts of as a story of a man pushing a cart and turns into something about a three eyed yellow monster that it sounded as if he was making it up off the top of his head, yeah, I loved that one.
Swimming Pool - Not to be confused with Kendrick Lamar's Swimming Pool, this song is about an actual swimming pool. This album is going to take multiple listens to really digest, because there are certainly some stand out tracks, but a lot of the others (like this one) get kind of lost on me because of the better moments.
Gone Gone Gone - Drake is rambling all over the place on this one, it's like one incredibly long run-on sentence, again, something that reminds me a lot of Rick & Morty. Solid stuff, or maybe I just like that show too much...
Biting of Glory - Another Elliott Smith-ish guitar on this, as it's strictly just Drake and his guitar so far. Wow, I just noticed, this guy is 58 years old. That's unreal, his vocals make him sound so young, I would honestly guessed he was mid 20's on this recording.
Some Advice About Zombis - Closing track, and it's a fine way to go out I suppose. A dark track about, well, zombies. It's quite morbid lyrically, but that just adds to the overall theme. I would probably like this one more if it wasn't for the stupid zombie craze that the Walking Dead started.
Thank you for that one grindy, that was a truly great listen. If I'm being honest, I went into it expecting something far too experimental for my little virgin ears, but instead, I found a project that I plan to revisit quite frequently (I'm actually starting it over again right now.) The obscure, wildly over-the-top and often non-sensical story telling is unlike anything I've ever really heard from a lyricist, and he manages to tie together a fair bit of progressive rock in these songs, without having them drag on.
Final Verdict: I think it's pretty obvious this one is a pass, and the best album I've heard since I've started taking these recs. Good ****.