Guided By Voices Tease New, Hi-Fi Version of Classic Track ‘I Am a Scientist’

It’s a fan-favorite on Guided By Voices’ epic set list, and, now, it’s getting a makeover. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Bee Thousand , GBV has re-recorded “I Am a Scientist” in hi-fi. The song drops on streaming Wednesday, and will also be available as a limited-edition seven-inch.

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“The song and the album opened the door for me and allowed me to play rock music for a living,” GBV frontman Robert Pollard tells Rolling Stone . “To be able to do what I always wanted to do. And I’m still doing it. I’m still studying and analyzing myself and the world from the perspective of a songwriter.”

According to the Dayton, Ohio, singer-songwriter, the band — guitarist Doug Gillard, drummer Kevin March, bassist Mark Shue, and guitarist Bobby Bare Jr. — recorded an instrumental version of the track a few years back. The seven-inch also includes a re-recording of “Tractor Rape Chain.”

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“They’re pretty true to the live renditions,” Pollard says. “I wrote ‘Scientist’ right around the time when we were recording songs for what was then a double album called Instructions to the Rusty Time Machine . It was edited down to Bee Thousand . ‘Tractor Rape Chain’ was the reworking of a much older song called ‘Tell Me.’ We used to play it live in the early Eighties.”

GBV most recently released Strut of Kings , their 17th album since 2017, on June 28.

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