Alien Lanes

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Work

Alien Lanes was released in April 1995 and was Guided by Voices' first album for Matador Records. The advances were high, almost a hundred thousand dollars, one of the most expensive deals in the label's history. The recording, by contrast, cost about ten dollars, not counting the beer. The record has twenty-eight short songs, often only a minute or two long.

Rolling Stone called the music catchy rock with a sometimes prickly, sometimes playful urge to experiment. The Guardian found the songs gems that stop just short of being too idiosyncratic. AllMusic heard a record similar to Bee Thousand, with fewer obvious masterpieces but also fewer flaws. Pitchfork placed it at number 27 among the best albums of the 1990s, and Magnet proclaimed it the best album of 1995.

Listening

Track list

1. 1A Salty Salute1:29Apple Music ↗
2. 2Evil Speakers0:59Apple Music ↗
3. 3Watch Me Jumpstart2:24Apple Music ↗
4. 4They're Not Witches0:51Apple Music ↗
5. 5As We Go Up, We Go Down1:37Apple Music ↗
6. 6(I Wanna Be a) Dumbcharger1:14Apple Music ↗
7. 7Game of Pricks1:33Apple Music ↗
8. 8The Ugly Vision1:35Apple Music ↗
9. 9A Good Flying Bird1:08Apple Music ↗
10. 10Cigarette Tricks0:18Apple Music ↗
11. 11Pimple Zoo0:43Apple Music ↗
12. 12Big Chief Chinese Restaurant0:57Apple Music ↗
13. 13Closer You Are1:57Apple Music ↗
14. 14Auditorium1:02Apple Music ↗
15. 15Motor Away2:07Apple Music ↗
16. 16Hit0:23Apple Music ↗
17. 17My Valuable Hunting Knife2:00Apple Music ↗
18. 18Gold Hick0:30Apple Music ↗
19. 19King and Caroline1:36Apple Music ↗
20. 20Striped White Jets2:15Apple Music ↗
21. 21Ex-Supermodel1:07Apple Music ↗
22. 22Blimps Go 901:40Apple Music ↗
23. 23Strawdogs1:18Apple Music ↗
24. 24Chicken Blows2:22Apple Music ↗
25. 25Little Whirl1:47Apple Music ↗
26. 26My Son Cool1:41Apple Music ↗
27. 27Always Crush Me1:45Apple Music ↗
28. 28Alright2:58Apple Music ↗

30-second previews via Apple Music. Listen to the whole album on Apple Music ↗