This Is Not A Low: A Brief Review Of Tremblers And Goggles By Rank, The New Album From Guided By Voices

The last Guided By Voices album came out on my birthday and that was less than four months ago. That one found Robert Pollard and crew in a feisty and punchy mood. This new one, out tomorrow, finds them in a more exploratory one. Tremblers and Googles By Rank contains some of this band's most adventurous offerings in at least a year or so. And the overall effect here, while somewhat a schizophrenic one in terms of style, is impressive. Simply put, this group sounds as vital as ever, as they continue navigating new directions.

From the Big Star-inspired single "Alex Bell", to the New Wave squawk of "Lizard on the Red Brick Wall", and on to the serious Who-isms of "Unproductive Funk", Pollard and company sound fired up. "This is not a low!" sings Bob on the latter, and the refrain becomes almost a mantra as the anthem twists and turns, chops and pops. Elsewhere, "Focus on the Flock" has a heavy vibe that I enjoyed, even as "Boomerang" seemed a bit of a misstep on this record. Things conclude smartly with the brief and lumbering "Puzzle Two" and the Yes-like "Who Wants to Go Hunting", a sort of epic. This closer, the proggiest thing this lot have recorded yet, meanders and churns with real wit and force, until a Doug Gillard guitar-line climbs to the heavens. The lengthy coda of this number is one of my favorite pieces of GBV music in some months at least, and I found it oddly moving.

For a band who've spent so much time finding and riding choppy chords and riffs, the expansive risk-taking here was sort of a pleasant surprise. They've done this before, of course, but Tremblers and Goggles by Rank is concise too. The tightness of the outfit is on display here, big time, even as detours are explored, and a leisurely insistence on confounding expectations indulged.

Tremblers and Googles by Rank is out tomorrow via Rockathon.

More on Guided by Voices via the official website.

[Photo: Tony Nelson]