The release of the fourth incredible installment of Suitcase has illuminated a previously un-mined chapter in Pollard’s musical development — A proto-GBV group called The Crowd, dating all the way back to 1983! The cassette that was unearthed contains an album’s worth of material, much of it unreleased in this embryonic form, but a handful of the songs here went on to serve as source material for tracks on later Pollard albums. Seven songs from this tape are on Suitcase 4, and one additional track was released as a Guided By Voices B-side in 2013.
1. Murphy Had A Birthday (AKA Today You’re 82) (Parts recycled in “Birds” and “Take Me to Yolita“)
2. Eloise (recycled in “Wrinkled Ghost“)
3. Time Will Destroy You
4. Then Again (acoustic)
5. Linda’s Lottery (bit of melody here was borrowed for Keene Brothers’ “Island of Lost Lucys“)
6. Thick And Thin
7. Disappearing Act
8. Little Jimmy the Giant (b-side to Xeno Pariah)
1. Double Standards
2. Tell Me (also appears on Pissing in the Canal, later recycled as verse of “Tractor Rape Chain“)
3. Cardio-Combustion (melody that became “Hank’s Little Fingers“)
4. Hold Me
5. It’s a Matter of Time
6. Tamara
7. Magic Horses (early version of the still unreleased Power of Suck outtake “Sweeping Bones“)
8. Bom Bom
9. Wolves Among the Grave
10. I Won’t Be the Foolish One (mentioned in Beautiful Plastic as becoming “Gelatin Ice Cream Plum“)
11. Then Again (full band)
The eight tracks currently available showcase a band that has already mastered the art of writing songs, from a melodic standpoint. The arrangements are basic garage rock, but the structures are fussy and formal, with verses, choruses, and bridges, etc. in exactly the right places. In GBV’s typically off-kilter fashion, it wasn’t until Pollard unlearned some of the songwriting conventions on display here that he really found his artistic voice. But The Crowd material does not suffer for its youthful naivete — far from it. The band attack their songs with a punkish urgency that serves them well and sells the occasionally on-the-nose lyrics. The song structures may be fussy, but the live-sounding, no overdubs recordings certainly are not. Also of note is that the jangly, R.E.M. derived sound featured heavily on GBV’s early albums is mostly absent here in favor of power-pop/British invasion-inspired nuggets.
“Murphy Had a Birthday” is the highlight for me, a relentlessly catchy song with a magnificent chorus. You might recognize part of the bridge (and a variation of its chorus) on English Little League‘s “Birds,” or the full bridge section on recent Pollard solo single “Take Me to Yolita” (from Faulty Superheroes), but the original track more than stands up on its own.
It’s also quite interesting to hear how the relentlessly energetic earworm of “Eloise” was re-written by an older, wiser Pollard to make one of my all-time favorite songs of his, the beautiful “Wrinkled Ghost” from Waved Out.
Would love to see the entirety of this Crowd session released as its own standalone LP! Based on what we have of it already, it’s a strong collection of tunes as well as an intriguing glimpse at a young songwriter learning his craft.
The Crowd featured Jimmy Davidson on guitar, Mitch Mitchell on bass, Kevin Fennell on drums, and Robert Pollard on vocals. Thanks to The Heed for providing the image and info on unreleased songs.
Hope to have some more Suitcase 4 inspired posts up soon!
Shitcanned. 
Awesome and Awe-Inspiring. Leave it to Uncle Bob to make Suitcase 4 the best since S 1… and to hilariously declare that Briefcase 4 is the “real album” and Suitcase 4 is that album with 81 bonus tracks! Would love to read more about S4. On a side note, Little Jimmy the Giant (acoustic version), presumably one of Bob’s very first recordings, is of course featured on Suitcase 1.
Excellent research and assemblage all around on your website. I came about this through a Facebook post sometime last year, and I’ve found the wealth of material really incredible. Thank you for this great write-up on The Crowd songs from Suitcase 4. I’m currently in the process of reviewing Suitcase 4 material for a website I do. I was wondering if I’d be able to credit and link your site on my review. If you could, please email me when you can. Thanks so much.