Circus Devils
Although it would be easy to dismiss Circus Devils as just another indie project by Guided by Voices founder Robert Pollard, the band encompasses a different form of musical exploration altogether, dismissing the styles of his solo endeavors for a more ominous and nightmarish tone exploring the themes of good and evil. A collaboration with siblings Todd Tobias and Tim Tobias, Circus Devils embrace a darker form of psychedelia and prog rock than GvB, with the pop hooks taken in a different direction, while sound collage was also a key ingredient on their 2001 debut, Ringworm Interiors. Their music became more organic but no less exploratory on later albums like 2009's Gringo and 2017's Laughs Last, and while the latter was to have been their final album, they returned with new music on 2023's Squeeze the Needle.
According to the group's whimsical website bio, Circus Devils formed because a dog-faced man approached each member on separate occasions to deliver the message "Circus Devils is real!" Like this story, their lyrics are often unsettling fictional tales of horror delivered within deconstructed rock operas. In 2001, Pollard met with producer Todd Tobias and Todd's brother Tim Tobias, who had been playing bass for GBV since 1999. The trio decided to start recording under the moniker Circus Devils, and collaborated to create the album Ringworm Interiors, which was finished in 2001. Tim and Todd split the musical duties (Tim focusing on guitar layering, and Todd working the recording console and bass), building atmospheric tension while Pollard delivered his sinister and wry vocals.
In 2002 the band released its second LP, The Harold Pig Memorial, a slightly less abstract concept album about the memorial service of an L.A. biker. The ambitious two-part rock opera Pinball Mars followed in 2004, and the successive year brought forth the difficult ambient prog album Five. In 2007, after signing to Mike Patton's haven for off-kilter musical projects, Ipecac, Circus Devils released their most straightforward record to date, Sgt. Disco. After that, the trio began releasing material though Pollard's own label, Happy Jack Rock Records, and became one of Pollard's most prolific side projects. Circus Devils managed to crank out nine full-length albums (including Gringo, Escape, Stomping Grounds, and the film soundtrack I Razor), an EP (Sunflower Wildman), and a limited-edition "best-of" compilation (A Riot of Gold Teeth) between 2008 and 2015. In 2017, Circus Devils announced on their website that they were pulling the plug on the project, and said goodbye to their fans with two final albums -- a set of new material called Laughs Last, and a career-spanning collection titled Laughs Best (The Kids Eat It Up). The ever-prolific Pollard would in time change his mind about that, and he reconvened the Tobias Brothers for another exercise in moody, imaginative rock, 2023's Squeeze the Needle.
© Jason Lymangrover /TiVo
Diskografie
17 Album, -en • Geordnet nach Bestseller
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Squeeze The Needle
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei GBV Inc am 27.10.2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Five
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Fading Captain Series am 14.06.2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pinball Mars
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Fading Captain Series am 30.10.2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gringo
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Happy Jack Rock am 14.04.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Owl Presents… / Here We Are
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei GBV Inc am 29.09.2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ringworm Interiors
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Fading Captain Series am 31.10.2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Laughs Best (The Kids Eat It Up)
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Happy Jack Rock am 24.02.2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stomping Grounds
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Happy Jack Rock am 23.10.2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Laughs Last
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Happy Jack Rock am 24.02.2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sgt. Disco
Rock - Erschienen bei Ipecac Recordings am 24.07.2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Harold Pig Memorial
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Fading Captain Series am 29.10.2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
My Mind Has Seen the White Trick
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Happy Jack Rock am 29.10.2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mother Skinny
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Happy Jack Rock am 30.03.2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Escape
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Happy Jack Rock am 11.11.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
When Machines Attack
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Happy Jack Rock am 29.10.2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo