Pollard made claims that Do The Collapse would be the album where he finally delivered a set of nothing but concise pop, but the album was weighted down with several boring dirges that took the wind out of its sails. Isolation Drills is the album GBV should have released instead. The album is relentless in its pursuit of the arching hook, and almost all of the 16 tracks hit the mark.

This album is also notable for containing Pollard's most direct lyrics to date. Gone is the fun house of mirrors and metaphors that have clouded the meaning of songs on past albums. The lyrics on this album are almost naked expressions of what goes on in Pollard's mind, detailing his troubles with marrige and alcohol.

The opening 1-2-3 punch of "Fair Touching", "Skills Like This", and "Chasing Heather Crazy" establish the fact that Pollard still has hooks and he's going to use them. "Want One" is the kind of slam-glam-art-pop tune that I think Pollard was trying to write for the last album. On Do The Collapse he fell into the aforementioned dirge trap, but here he latches on to a trashy pop groove that works. "Glad Girls" is Pollard embracing Bay City Rollers-styled cheese hooks in a way that would make even the most cynical listener smile.

The bottom line here is Pollard is in top form. Isolation Drills represents the most consistent songwriting of his career. This is an album that has stayed on a lot of people's stereos all summer long. Don't miss out.
For info on GBV, go to www.gbv.com.

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