It's said that consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, and if that's true,
Robert Pollard must have a mind as big as all outdoors. For an artist whose melodic style is as instantly recognizable as
Pollard's, there's been a remarkably wide swing in the level of quality in his post-
Guided by Voices projects, and the third album from
Boston Spaceships --
Pollard's ongoing collaboration with
Chris Slusarenko and
John Moen -- unfortunately isn't as strong or engaging as their first two efforts.
Zero to 99 is certainly a lot livelier than most of
Pollard's solo work, featuring some rollicking post-glam melodies powered by a handful of musicians who aren't afraid to draw sweat and make with the strut.
Pollard and his friends were also able to attract some A-list guest stars for these sessions, including
Peter Buck and
Scott McCaughey from
R.E.M., as well as power pop guitar hero
Tommy Keene and
Sam Coomes of
Quasi. And
Pollard's own performance can't be faulted; he's singing as well as ever and sounds as engaged as anyone on board. But while
Zero to 99 has more impressive credentials than the previous
Boston Spaceships' discs, the results don't feel much different from where they've gone before, and this album suffers from the same bugaboo that curses so much of
Robert Pollard's music -- the impact of a few really good songs has been seriously diluted by a whole bunch that are ultimately nothing special. On
Brown Submarine and
Planets Are Blasted,
Boston Spaceships stood above much of
Pollard's recent work because he stuck to top-shelf material with worthy collaborators backing him up. The musicians are as good as ever, but
Pollard once again can't seem to tell his star players from his B team, and that's why
Zero to 99 disappoints, despite all its virtues. ~ Mark Deming