Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia (Reissue) (Limited Clear Yellow Vinyl LP)

Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia was Guided By Voices’ third album, self-released by the band in 1988 in a pressing of 500. While both of the band’s earlier albums exhibit strong songwriting and plenty of vision, it is here that the GBV sound really begins to coalesce. While Devil Between My Toes is rife with contrasts, variety, and dark psychedelia, and its follow up Sandbox is a cohesive ’60s-influenced affair, Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia marries the two approaches to outstanding effect.

Unsurprisingly, recording began before Sandbox was even done pressing. These sessions would yield an aborted LP titled Learning To Hunt, but after personnel changes and second thoughts, Robert Pollard shelved most of the tracks, dismissing them as too similar to those on Sandbox. Fair enough, as many of Pollard’s more recent songs were simply on another level than previously. Here are the first of the classic Pollard slow-burners, often built on a simple melodic or rhythmic figure that circles itself ever outward, accumulating heft, variation, and inevitability as the song evolves into something unexpected yet inevitable. It’s the aural equivalent to watching a butterfly grow out of its cocoon.

Tracklisting:

1. The Future Is In Eggs
2. The Great Blake Street Canoe Race
3. Slopes Of Big Ugly
4. Paper Girl
5. Navigating Flood Regions
6. An Earful O’ Wax
7. White Whale
8. Trampoline
9. Short On Posters
10. Chief Barrel Belly 
11. Dying To Try This 
12. The Qualifying Remainder
13. Liar’s Tale
14. Radio Show (Trust The Wizard)