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Swimmer To A Liquid Armchair

Ricked Wicky

Released: 09/25/2015
Format: LP
Label: Guided By Voices Inc.
Catalog #: GBVI-63
Country: U.S.A.
Discs: 1
# Tracks: 12
Images
Front Cover
Record
Pressing Details
Vinyl Color # Pressed
Coke Bottle Green With Blue Swirls 1000 
Comments
Original release notes: Dayton, Ohio-based supergroup Ricked Wicky pulls off a rarely ventured and even more rarely gained three-peat with its third album�all recorded and released in the span of a year�Swimmer to a Liquid Armchair. The quartet, led by Robert Pollard and seconded mostly by multi-instrumentalist Nick Mitchell, with assists from Kevin March on drums and Todd Tobias on bass, have amped Pollard�s already wildly prolific output to Jason-Statham-in-Crank-2 levels. Swimmer serves up the same gleefully messy prog / punk / pop stew as on the previous two Ricked Wicky releases, but there�s a growing sense of assurance evident on the newest record that indicates Big Things for the future.

We draw your attention in particular to "Poor Substitute," as straightforward a song as Pollard has ever written, emotionally charged, melancholy, executed with rough vigor by the band and sung with unaffected mastery. Contrast this with the following song, which showcases Mitchell�s more polished songwriting approach (and abundant guitar chops) and his vibrant, albeit less elastic, tenor voice. If Guided By Voices, Pollard�s other other band, often bear comparison to the Beatles, Ricked Wicky on occasion calls to mind a kind of lo-fi Blue �yster Cult, with a touch of early Queen (Mitchell�s slide work on "The Blind Side" recalls Brian May). Those accustomed to more standard Pollardian fare will find plenty to chew on here: the virtuosic wordplay on album opener "What Are All Those Paint Men Digging," the thumping thug-rock of "Red-Legged Pygmalion," the epic sweep (in three minutes) of "Simple Simon Paper Plates," for starters.

But if Pollard seems determined to establish Ricked Wicky as more than just another in a numberless series of side projects�as an actual thing-in-itself as fully realized as anything he�s ever dreamed up in his rock-crystal bowl�he�s nonetheless never more himself than when testing his own limits. By welcoming different voices and different approaches to both playing and songwriting, by framing Ricked Wicky as a collaboration of equals, he establishes more than ever that he has very few. Put that in your e-pipe and vape it, kids.
Swimmer To A Liquid Armchair
Side One
1.   What Are All Those Paint Men Digging? 2:46
2.   Crystal Titanic 2:35
3.   Poor Substitute 2:25
4.   Blind Slide 2:34
5.   A Number I Can Trust 2:25
6.   Simple Simon Paper Plates 3:07
Side Two
1.   Red Legged Pygmalion 2:11
2.   No Man Would Develop 2:09
3.   Plastic Oceanic Getaway 3:16
4.   The Box (Including "The Curse") 1:46
5.   Could I See The List One More Time? 2:52
6.   I Am A Coast Guard 2:32
Total Length: 30:38
Other Formats
Label - Catalog [Format] (Country) # Tracks
Guided By Voices Inc. - GBVI-63 [CD] (U.S.A.) 12

Album Credits
Artwork/Design
Role Name
Art Robert Pollard
Art Department Joe Patterson
Art Department Robert Pollard
Art Department Vince Williams
Art Management Sarah Zade-Pollard
Collage Name - Front Cover "Swimmers To A Liquid Armchair"
Front Cover Collage Robert Pollard
Layout Joe Patterson
Layout Robert Pollard
Musician
Role Name
Band Member Kevin March
Band Member Nick Mitchell
Band Member Robert Pollard
Band Member Todd Tobias
Production
Role Name
Studio Assistance Steve Hopkins
Publishing
Role Name
Copyright 2015
Management/Business
Role Name
Business Management Eric Weiss
Legal Richard Grabel
Management David Newgarden
Other
Role Name
Additional Album Text Keep It In Motion
Additional Album Text www.robertpollard.net
Additional Album Text www.robertpollardart.net
Additional Album Text www.rockathonrecords.com
Rockathon Records Kevin Poindexter
Rockathon Records Matt Davis
Rockathon Records Mike Lipps