Night of the Golden Underground

I am guilty of painting Robert Pollard's work with Todd Tobias with a broad brush. There is a certain sound the pair have settled into, at least on albums under Pollard's name, and it is somewhat abrasive and rarely what I would call delicate or sweet.

That's unfair, of course, and "Night of the Golden Underground" is proof positive. It's as gentle and light a song as Pollard has done, but it is underheard -- at least in my household -- because it is buried toward the tail end of an album that I go to when I want to hear some great Who-esque rockers. When I do rediscover it, usually thanks to a shuffle setting on the iPod, I'm always amazed that such a song appears so late in Pollard's career, and on a disc helmed by Tobias.

It's a fairly simple, quiet song with a great melody. Pollard sings over a strummed acoustic guitar which is itself overlaid with some gentle plucked notes on a second guitar. Drums come along about midway to drive things, ever so subtly. If Pollard was singing about anything in particular, this thing would have senior prom slow dance written all over it.