The Apples in Stereo-Velocity of Sound

If The Apples in Stereo were Guided By Voices, The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone would be Bee Thousand (the ultimate culmination of their lo fi pop craft) and Velocity of Sound would be Isolation Drills (the complete abandon of the lo fi sound that graced their early records in favor of a much higher fi sound). Of course in the case of both Isolation Drills and Velocity of Sound there is no decrease in the quality of the songs, but a marked increase in the studio sheen laid over them. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Bands can't record their albums on a four track in their living room forever (well, they could but I assume they eventually feel limited by that choice, which is probably what happened with both AIS and GBV). Bands grow and evolve and that can be a very good thing. In the case of Velocity of Sound, I didn't like the change at first. It seemed that the very charm of the band was gone. When I came to terms with the fact that The Apples in Stereo can do whatever they want and they don't owe me anything, I began to really like Velocity of Sound. It's not my favorite Apples record, but it's a very good one.