Visit This Place

The impact of the songs that were issued as B-sides to the four 7" singles that preceded the Universal Truths & Cycles album was muted, in part because of their inaccessbility. Who has a turntable out and accessible these days, and who has room to keep a stack of singles nearby if they do? So, while "Visit This Place" might have earned a few spins when the "Cheyenne" single was flipped over, it wasn't until it's re-release as the lead track on The Pipe Dreams of Instant Prince Whippet EP that it caught my attention.

The song is a tight rocker with a hook strong enough that it could easily have fronted the single rather than backed it (not to slight "Cheyenne," a great song in its own right). It's certainly better than about half of what made the album proper, its powerful riffing and solid chorus worthy of repeat listens. It's not clear what "this place" is that Robert Pollard wants us to visit, but the meaning could certainly be universal in nature (a universal truth, perhaps?). As the song closes, he sings the admonition to "crawl from your eyes, come alive," a seeming call to arms for listeners to wake up and pay attention to their surroundings.

The quality of this song is high enough that it makes my decision to forego his recently announced Happy Jack Rock singles series seem questionable. At $7.50 a pop, however, they're simply too pricey. Might one of those otherwise unreleased B-sides be worth that amount (the A-side is a moot point, as they'll all appear on one of his two solo discs coming from Merge in October)? Perhaps. But assuming that Pollard won't be able to turn down a buck, I'm sure that as long as these sell out, he'll gather the B-sides and release them in a Prince Whippet-like EP at some point. I already have close to 1,200 Pollard songs. I can wait.