Depending on how much you want to believe the myth-making behind this one, the new Guided By Voices record, Earth Man Blues is either a concept album or a compilaton of unused songs. Maybe it's both? It's hard to tell when diving in. However you answer the mystery, one thing is clear: this is a superb record, which, apart from one lengthy misstep, is as tight and coherent as this band's been in ages. Risks are taken, of course, but the focus remains largely laser-like throughout the running time of this offering.
"Made Man" and "The Batman Sees The Ball" are The Kinks and The Who fighting it out in a battle of the bands circa 1966. Punchy, things get even rougher on "Dirty Kid School", a show-tune-ish anthem for fans of both this band and Angus Young, I think. Earth Man Blues holds together since so much of what's here is just like these early highlights. And while the more than five minutes of "Lights Out in Memphis Egypt" didn't entirely captivate me, I'm willing to overlook a moment (or several) of indulgence from Robert Pollard and crew in 2021.
"Free Agents", on the other hand, is one of the best songs from this band in years. Tight, supple, and sleek, the cut is bright and catchy and delightful. Sure, "Ant Repellant" is a bit odd, but lots of Earth Man Blues hardly sounds like leftovers, no matter how this album's being pitched out there. Engineer Travis Harrison keeps things crisp here, with diversions into weirdness at least delivered in stark relief. There's a bit of a The Who Sell Out-feel here, but Guided By Voices are more rooted in their own approach to power-pop than entirely beholden to Townshend's. There's a real DIY grit on this, but most of the compositions punch above their weight class, with hooks that seem pretty big and obvious.
The GBV machine -- Robert Pollard (vocals), Doug Gillard (guitar), Bobby Bare Jr. (guitar), Mark Shue (bass), and Kevin March (drums) -- remains an impressive thing in 2021. Rather than slink off into power-pop regurgitation, or epic wankery, Guided By Voices have doubled down on the strengths of their approach. Earth Man Blues is not a perfect album, but it's a beast in spots ("Trust Them Now"), and certainly sharper and more precise than maybe anyone ever would have imagined this band could be in 2021. Hell, lots of us in 1999 or so weren't probably expecting to still be raving about GBV releases more than two decades later. But we are, and I certainly am when the product delivers this much pleasure.
Earth Man Blues is out tomorrow via Rockathon Records.
More details on Guided By Voices via the official GBV website, or RobertPollardArt.com.
[Photo, me, Glenn Griffith, 2018, Washington, D.C.]