Their third album of 2023 finds Guided By Voices in rare form. Things here are concise, tight, and familiar. The song-craft on Nowhere to Go But Up, out tomorrow on Rockathon Records, is such that it sounds like Robert Pollard's got a bit of fire in his belly (again).
"The Race is On, The King is Dead" has a faint Christmas-y feel to it, like a holiday single from The Move or something, while "Local Master Airplane" is, like so many of the recent efforts of GBV, a sure sign that someone grew up playing a lot of records by The Who. Elsewhere, "Stabbing at Fractions" nicely takes us back to the mid-Nineties vibes of this band, while "We're Going the Wrong Way In" is a wiry bit of business.
Guided By Voices seem intent on pursuing a sound here in the 21st century that is by turns adventurous and fundamental. On this shorter album, it feels like a listener can more easily draw a line from the sound of the band now back to that of the band a few decades ago. That should please some fans, sure. Nowhere to Go But Up rocks in spots. There's lots to love here for the diehard fans, and enough oomph in the group's continued output as to draw in a new generation of devotees.
Nowhere to Go But Up by Guided By Voices is out this week on Rockathon Records.
[Photo: Rockathon Records]