It’s been just a few months since Guided By Voice’s faux rock opera Earth Man Blues garnered four-star and five-star reviews, with Rolling Stone proclaiming that it “squarely hits all the marks that make Guided By Voices great—again and again and again.”
Scalping The Guru is an archival GBV release envisioned and sequenced by Robert Pollard as a cohesive album, featuring select tracks from four Guided By Voices EPs released in 1993-1994 by Domino, City Slang, Siltbreeze and Engine Records. These hard-to-find records are essential for fans of Vampire On Titus and Bee Thousand, with GBV classics including "My Impression Now", "Matter Eater Lad" and "Big School".
Progressive Rock Band SiX BY SiX release their self-titled debut album featuring members of Saga, The Greg Kihn Band & Saxon. On more than 45 minutes of prog-influenced heavy rock Robert Berry (vocals), Ian Crichton (Guitar) and Nigel Glockler deliver a very strong musical statement. The signature guitar sound of Saga-Guitarist Ian Crichton provides the final touch to an all-around harmonic longplayer.
This record is massive and amazing. Nowhere To Go But Up is Guided By Voices’ third album of 2023 (and thirtyninth overall) and is a sprawling, wild adventure. With virtually no choruses and just two repeated lyrics in forty minutes, GBV is audacious and unafraid. One of the most fully realized works that Guided By Voices has created, Nowhere To Go But Up showcases an expert rock band at the top of their game. The band is on a roll and unstoppable. Following their monumental 40th Anniversary Celebration in Dayton, Ohio, GBV begins their fifth decade with a bang!
Styles We Paid For is Guided By Voices’ third album of 2020 and it stands as a testament to this Year In Isolation, reflecting these dark days through Robert Pollard’s prism, with the band sounding as confident and authoritative as ever. The fifteen tracks were recorded remotely during quarantine from five states (Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Tennessee) to comprise GBV’s ninth album since 2017.
Tremblers And Goggles By Rank marks a new phase in Robert Pollard’s songwriting evolution. His songs have always included non-traditional approaches to form and song structure, but with this album, he has pushed it further than ever. While the familiar Guided By Voices pop-craft and melodic virtuosity always occupies center stage, the first-time listener will never be able to predict what’s coming next in a song.