While the vast majority of
Robert Pollard's side projects sound pretty much the same as his "official" output, his albums with
Circus Devils have always been a different kettle of fish; when
Pollard collaborates with
Tim Tobias and Todd Tobias, the music has a darker, artier, and more obscure edge than
Pollard's usual smart pop creations, and if the results don't rock very much, the songs are challenging and satisfying in ways that set them apart from the majority of his post-
Guided by Voices product.
Gringo, the seventh
Circus Devils album, demonstrates just how good
Pollard can be when he has a worthy collaborator to challenge him; the melodic and instrumental contributions of the
Tobias brothers give
Pollard a chance to do something with the prog rock influences that have long been his dirty little secret, and these 16 songs fit together in a way that makes them seem less like a collection of fragments and more like a coherent musical whole, something that isn't always the case when
Pollard is working on his own.
Tim Tobias' keyboard work is
the Circus Devils' secret weapon on
Gringo; emulating a number of instruments, he adds a variety of bent sonic textures that bring a curious freshness to the melodies, and the codas and introductions bridge the songs with a subtle but deliberate intelligence, helping this album set a mood that doesn't ebb until the instrumental finale, "Yellow Cloud," comes to a close. And if
Pollard's lyrics don't make much linear sense as usual, in this context their obscurity is an asset, contributing to the mystery rather than muddying the clarity of his poppier tunes. Between
Gringo and
Pollard's excellent work with
Boston Spaceships and
the Keene Brothers, it's increasingly obvious that he needs a worthwhile partner to do his best work, but
the Circus Devils prove that he sometimes has the sense to hold on to a relationship with the right musicians, and this album shows this is one area where his judgment is spot-on. ~ Mark Deming