“Olympus cock in Radiana/struts the strut of kings,” declares Robert Pollard, against a vamping guitar riff in this, the 41st year of the phenomenon known as Guided by Voices. We can celebrate 30 years of being able to listen to the great Bee Thousand now, but the real triumph is that Guided by Voices just keeps going. Its crashing guitar chords and Who-like drum explosions, its dream-state lyrical surrealities, its inevitable melodies burst from Strut of Kings as fresh and powerful as ever.
Category: Robert Pollard
Robert Pollard :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
2023 was a fantastic year for Guided by Voices. The trio of records that came out – La La Land, Welshpool Frillies, and the late-year Nowhere to Go But Up – are some of the best the band has put out in the seven years its most recent incarnation has been together. Founding member Robert Pollard seems just as chaotically creative as ever, whether it’s the pure volume of songs or the developing shape they take. Over the holiday break, Pollard caught up with Aquarium Drunkard via email about the latest trio of albums, how the writing process works for the band 7 years and 16 albums in, the challenge of writing lyrics for music that already exists, and the transformative power of a Glen Campbell cover of your own work.
Robert Pollard :: Space City Kicks
Yup, that’s Pollard posing on the cover of his first album of the new year, Space City Kicks. Yet another sign that the GBV reunion has in no way slowed […]
Robert Pollard :: We All Got Out of The Army
Consider the following mush the requisite/obligatory, by-the-numbers, opening paragraph concerning the level of recent Robert Pollard ouput: A gnbhjn ghm kskeh a hgjj hfgrgs. Mg ghjed xffjj hknk wfjhbasd kedkcn kckjnz kjnd […]
Robert Pollard Is Off To Business
With an average release schedule of 3-4 titles per year even the most ardent fans of the Pollard faithful can turn skeptic. And rightly so. This, the 1st release from the […]
Robert Pollard :: Gratification To Concrete
Robert Pollard Is Off To Business – the first release on the newly christened Guided by Voices record label – is set to hit stores June 3rd. As a Pollard pundit, I’m obviously into it, but look […]
Bob Pollard :: To Release New Record(s) Oct 9th
As You An’t No Picasso mentioned, Robert Pollard is set to release, not one, but two albums later this year, Coast To Coast Carpet Of Love, and Standard Gargoyle Decisions. Prolific, yes, but really, as the […]
Robert Pollard :: Best of the Fading Captain Series
Released by Luna Music , Crickets: The Best of The Fading Captain Series compiles fifty six of Pollards self-released solo joints throughout the years in a (kinda) tidy two-disc set. This is […]