Under the Bushes Under the Stars explained

Under the Bushes Under the Stars
Type:	Album
Artist:	Guided by Voices
Cover:	UTBUTScover.jpg
Alt:	A fairly surreal, impressionistic collage whose main focus is a circular cut-out of a man holding two sticks and looking up. The band name and album cover appear in a bold font in the upper left corner.
Released:	March 26, 1996
Recorded:	1995
Genre:	Indie rock
Length:	55:45 (38:01 / 17:44) 61:20 (with bonus tracks)
Label:	Matador
Prev Title:	Alien Lanes
Prev Year:	1995
Next Title:	Tonics & Twisted Chasers
Next Year:	1996

Under the Bushes Under the Stars is the ninth Guided by Voices album overall, and the last until 2012's Let's Go Eat the Factory^[1] to feature the "classic" lineup including Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, and Kevin Fennell in addition to leader Robert Pollard. The album is noted as Guided by Voices' first stab at professionalism, being recorded in 24 track studios rather than their customary 4 track. Sessions for the album were reportedly arduous, spread as they were across at least four studios and as many sets of producers, and many titles and configurations were vetted before a final sequence was reached.

The final six tracks on the CD do not appear on the album's back cover. These tracks, which were included as a separate 12" EP in the vinyl edition, were not originally included in the completed album sequence, having been dropped from earlier proposed versions of the album, but were included at the request of Matador label executives who regretted their exclusion.

Track listing

All songs written by Robert Pollard unless otherwise noted.

Side A

1. "Man Called Aerodynamics" – 2:01
2. "Rhine Jive Click" – 1:34
3. "Cut-Out Witch" – 3:04
4. "Burning Flag Birthday Suit" – 2:22
5. "The Official Ironmen Rally Song" – 2:48
6. "To Remake the Young Flyer" (Tobin Sprout) – 1:43
7. "No Sky" – 2:03
8. "Bright Paper Werewolves" – 1:14
9. "Lord of Overstock" – 2:34

Side B

10. "Your Name Is Wild" – 2:01
11. "Ghosts of a Different Dream" – 2:30
12. "Acorns & Orioles" – 2:12
13. "Look at Them" – 2:27
14. "The Perfect Life" (Sprout) – 0:59
15. "Underwater Explosions" – 2:02
16. "Atom Eyes" (Sprout) – 1:42
17. "Don't Stop Now" – 2:39
18. "Office of Hearts" – 2:06

Side C

19. "Big Boring Wedding" – 3:43
20. "It's Like Soul Man" (Sprout) – 2:09
21. "Drag Days" – 2:50

Side D

22. "Sheetkickers" (Jim Pollard, Robert Pollard) – 3:17
23. "Redmen and Their Wives" – 3:55
24. "Take to the Sky" – 1:50

1998 bonus tracks

25. "Finks" – 2:28
26. "The Finest Joke Is Upon Us" – 3:09

Personnel

Guided by Voices

• Robert Pollard – lead vocals, guitar, drums, bass guitar
• Tobin Sprout – bass guitar, guitar
• Kevin Fennell – drums
• James Greer – bass guitar
• Mitch Mitchell – guitar

Additional musicians

• Tripp Lamkins – guitar
• John Shough – piano
• Shelby Bryant – strings

Technical

• Mark Ohe – cover artwork
• Robert Pollard – cover artwork
• Greg Calbi – mastering

Notes

• A Tracks "The Official Ironmen Rally Song", "Don't Stop Now", "Big Boring Wedding", "Drag Days" and "Redmen and Their Wives" were produced by Kim Deal.^[2]
• B Tracks "It's Like Soul Man" and "Sheetkickers" were produced by Steve Albini.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Guided by Voices Releasing New Album, Let's Go Eat the Factory | BUZZGRINDER . 2011-12-20 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120120071515/http://www.buzzgrinder.com/2011/guided-by-voices-new-album-lets-go-eat-the-factory/ . 2012-01-20 .
2. Web site: Steve Albini & Kim Deal produce Guided by Voices album tracks . https://web.archive.org/web/20180926230941/http://www.mtv.com/news/506082/steve-albini-kim-deal-produce-guided-by-voices-album-tracks/ . dead . September 26, 2018 . . 1 July 1995 . 8 December 2016.