In Stores Now: Moses on a Snail by Robert Pollard

Illustration from The Dogs and the Fleas, Illustrated, 1893

When you've been buying Robert Pollard's solo albums for a decade and a half, you get a sense of what he's aiming for with each one. Often, a new Pollard album will be a selection from his recent songwriting, representing the songs not set aside for other projects (like Boston Spaceships or the Circus Devils). We All Got Out of the Army, which came out earlier this year, was one of those - it's simply a great set of tunes. Sometimes, though, Pollard gives indications of having crafted a particular batch of songs with something specific in mind - you need only look at the cover of Moses on a Snail to see that Pollard is setting this one apart from the others. The cover is a laugh-worthy parody of a five-buck "easy listening" collection of the kind you find in truck stops, with a photo of Pollard silhouetted in front of the sunset, watching boats in the harbor. The caption under the title (which appears in a terrible serif-heavy typeface) says, "featuring 'Arrows and Balloons', 'Each Is Good in His Own House', 'It's a Pleasure Being You', 'Teardrop Paintballs' and 8 more."

It's not like Robert Pollard to call out the album's four "pop hits" on the front cover, but I think it's meaningful because it's the "8 more" that tell the real story on Moses on a Snail. The first two songs on the album, "The Weekly Crow" and "A Constant Strangle", set up the album's two dominant moods, weariness and frustration - the album opens with a melancholy cello line and Pollard singing in his lower register, which he does for much of the album. This moody vocal style matches the dark lyrics of many of the songs - references to family relationships pop up repeatedly, and problems with interpersonal relationships are a dominant theme. However, the album's concept never creates a leaden feeling - the album keeps a brisk pace through it's fairly brief run-time, and the "pop" numbers provide a nice counterpoint to the weightier emotional tracks like "How I've Been in Trouble" and the final, epic title track.

"It's a Pleasure Being You" is one of the highlights of Moses on a Snail, with a vocal hook that is mirrored nicely by a chirping keyboard riff. And "Arrows and Balloons" provides another nice break in the clouds with a peppy melody and an elegiac lyric that could be interpreted as Pollard looking back on his career arc as a songwriter: "I have made a run - catch the Beatles too - arrows and balloons - send pigeons to the moon." I don't think that Pollard is in a real serious funk here - I mentioned earlier this week that he's getting the boys back together from the classic GBV lineup for a quick reunion tour in the fall (he's reportedly said that he wanted to do it before the guys get too old to put on a good show). He's just indulging his dark side a little with a downcast concept album that makes for a surprisingly fun listen.

"Arrows and Balloons" by Robert Pollard