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HEARING THINGS - By Mark Stalnaker
Guided by Voices have finally come out of the basement.
For over 10 years now, Guided by Voices frontman Robert Pollard and a
changing cast of bandmates have languished in relative obscurity,
releasing countless LPs, EPs and 7" singles of home recorded material
(much of which was literally recorded in the basements of various band
members). Pollard's preternatural grasp of melody and his irresistible
blend of classic rock influences - ranging from Beatlesque pop to
psychedelic experimentation to punkish ferocity - have practically
demanded greater attention, but the poor recording quality and
disorienting, fragmentary song structure of most of the band's output
has the tendency to alienate as many people as it captivates (a fact
to which any GbV fan who has ever tried to introduce the band to
friends can readily attest).
But with the band's latest release, _Mag Earwhig!_ Pollard appears set
to take Guided by Voices to a new level. While there are still traces
of GbV's garage-band past, as well as plenty of the odd song fragments
that longtime fans have come to expect, _Mag Earwhig!_ is by far the
most accessible work in the band's extensive oeuvre.
From the arena-ready power chords of the album's opener, "Can't Hear
the Revolution," it's apparent that _Mag Earwhig!_ relies more on
Pollard's love of showy rock and roll excitement than his penchant for
melodic refinement and prog-rock inspired experimentation. Most of the
album seems tailor-made for the band's reportedly dynamic live show,
from the sing-a-long thrills of "Bulldog Skin" to the driving rhythms
and soaring harmonies of "Little Lines" and "Jane of the Waking
Universe."
Part of the credit for GbV's new, leaner, rocking sound has to go to
the band's newest members. Pollard is the only longtime GbV member
with a prominent role on _Mag Earwhig!_ - this time around he's backed
up by members of the Cleveland indie-rock band Cobra Verde, who
provide a competence and focus that earlier line-ups of the band
lacked. The ringing guitar work of lead guitarist Doug Gillard in
particular give tracks like the excellent, anthematic "I Am a Tree" an
exhilarating, professional sheen that suits Guided by Voices just as
well as the spontaneous sloppiness for which the band is usually
known.
But it is Pollard's prolific songwriting gifts that make _Mag
Earwhig!_ such a uniquely exciting album. This is apparent not just on
the harder rocking numbers, but also on the album's slower, acoustic
tracks, such as the touching, atmospheric "Learning to Hunt" and the
beautiful "Now to War," in which Pollard sings some of his most
convincingly direct lyrics: "This is you, and this is war/ And it
makes me drink even more."
Even if _Mag Earwhig!_ turns out to be the album that at last gives
Guided by Voices the attention they deserve, it also suggests that
Robert Pollard is still to stubborn and quirky of a songwriter to be
the star he could be. Many will probably balk at the inclusion of the
several unpolished song fragments on _Mag Earwhig!_ (which are,
admittedly, weaker than similar moments on the band's previous
releases), and Pollard's decision to take the album's final production
into his own hands renders even this, his most listener-friendly work
to date, muddier and harder to appreciate than most albums on the
market. Still, Pollard must be doing something right; he's been
listening to those same voices in his head for over 10 years, and the
music just keeps getting better.