Singles Going Single #17 - Bevil Web 7" (1996, Wabana)

True, Robert Pollard was Guided By Voices prime-mover, Tobin Sprout's inclusion in the band's lineup (from 1992's Propeller through Under the Bushes Under the Stars in '96) often eclipsed Pollard's role of songwriter extraordinaire. It's been said Sprout was to McCartney, what Pollard was to Lennon, but nevertheless their partnership was hardly competitive. Sprout's GBV material, was typically softer and nimbler than Pollard's, and the contrast convinced some fans to champion the McCartney over the Lennon. Sprout's departure from the band after Under the Bushes, actually gave a lot of GBV listeners a plausible excuse to ignore Pollard's further adventures - that, and the fact Sprout was entrenching into an increasingly prolific solo career.

Bevil Web was Tobin Sprouts first solo venture, although he did predate GBV with a band called Figure 4. Featuring a pair of four-track, home-recorded morsels, "Minutemen," and "Lariat Man," Tobin Sprout get's his lo-fi on, and the results are brilliant. "Minutemen," owes a sizeable debt to Pollard's sonic template, but the delicate "Lariat Man," is prototypical Tobin Sprout, and was a clear harbinger of what would materialize on several solo albums, and with his offshoot band, Eyesinweasel. Tobin's music career appears to be on indefinite hiatus, with his attention presently being focused on painting.

A. Minutemen
B. Lariat Man

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