My Top 1000 Songs #922: Cindy

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Given the modest-sized yet adoring cult that has gathered around Guided By Voices, faithfully wading through the literally thousands of songs generated between the mid-80s and roughly a week ago by the band (as well as Robert Pollard's various solo & side projects), it's a little surprising there haven't been more imitators. Pollard's prolific gift for low-key skewed pop songs and alt.rock cast-offs, often (at least in the earlier years) delivered with half-assed lo-fi abandon, may be unique, but I'd think more bands would take a stab at it. 

Of course, there are a few. Fellow Ohio band Smug Brothers probably come closest, with a fistful of like-minded records (another one due this summer). 2nd Grade are a newer band, with a couple albums packed with the sort of pithy, absurdly-titled tracks that would do Pollard proud, with a bit more power pop vibe.

And then there's Connections--like Smug Brothers, based in Columbus--who I'd kind of lost track of after their first few releases but seem to still be kicking around (yes, I've got some shopping to do now). I've chatted up 2014's Year One before, and that record's "Cindy" is a perfect encapsulation of the micro-genre--ridiculously catchy, barely produced, and over before you know it, yet still leaving behind an impression that you've just heard an amazing #1 hit from a universe where GbV replaced the Beatles.