ROBERT POLLARD
NORMAL HAPPINESS
MERGE

Amazon.com
By Scott Holter

This just in: There can be no greater perpetual tune maker in music--indie rock or otherwise--than Robert Pollard. His second full-length solo record in 2006 is bursting with the obscure lyrics, eccentric song titles, and massive hooks that kept his now-defunct band Guided by Voices erect. While the fragmentary production elements are missing, the "hi-fi" conclusion is 16 tidy songs that swing between good-natured ("Rhoda Rhoda"), somber ("Give Up the Grape"), exposed ("I Feel Gone Again"), and categorically bizarre ("Pegasus Glue Factory"). Pollard recalls the works of legendary lovers Hank Williams and Robert Johnson in "Serious Bird Woman (You Turn Me On)" and initiates his initial swamp-rock raid in "Supernatural Car Lover," in which he references God, poverty, and jump shots in questioning man's contentment. Despite his eternal teenage outlook (and beer-chugging existence), Pollard is shrewd enough to follow his own Rock Star 101 handbook. And that means writing songs at all times of the day, and releasing them any time of the year.