ROBERT POLLARD
NORMAL HAPPINESS
MERGE

MOJO
By Manish Aarwal

4 stars

Pollard's second LP since he called time on his beloved band of barflies- and ninth solo disc in total- delivers a pop-art contrast to the prog-opaque sprawl of its predecessor, From a Compound Eye. Comprising 16 tracks in 35 minutes, Normal Happines is a zesty garage-psych set that draws on Moby Grape (Supernatural Car Lover) and '66 vintage Townshend (The Accidental Texas Who), as sung by a dishevelled Yank McCartney. Slower tunes such as Top of My Games and I Feel Gone Again possess more clarity than late-period GBV's sometimes ponderous ballads, while guitar heavy cuggers Rhoda Rhoda and Give Up the Grape will doubtless be saluted by a sea of raised beers when performed live- even though the latter finds Bob lamenting his drink habit.