Tampa Tribune

By Curtis Ross

Low-fi was apparently a means rather than an end for Robert Pollard. Fans who appreciated Guided by Voices mainly for its tape hiss and lagging beat will not be amused.

Those who loved Pollard's Beatlesque melodies and listened in spite of (instead of to) the tinny sound will rejoice in "Mag Earwhig!" For most of the new album Pollard enlists fellow Cleveland band Cobra Verde as the new GbV and the results rock in the best way possible.

Cue up "I Am a Tree," written by Cobra Verde guitarist Doug Gillard, and be swept away by the roar of big, shiny guitars and muscular drums. Pollard originals such as "Bulldog Skin" and "Jane of the Waking Universe" also benefit from the pumped-up sound.

Most of the songs are Pollard's trademark miniatures - 21 tracks in 45 minutes, and "I Am a Tree" takes up almost five of those - and continue his odd free-association lyrical obsessions (although aliens take a back seat to soldiers this time out).

Longtime Voices Tobin Sprout, Jim Pollard and Mitch Mitchell all make appearances, as does Sprout's eight-track recorder for three songs. But Pollard's determination to dress his songs in the finest rock raiment is apparent.

Pollard chose well when looking for musicians to bolster his tunes. What sets Cobra Verde apart in the alternative music universe is its non-ironic commitment to rock (as a verb). Take "For My Woman" from "Egomania," an odds-and-ends collection: With an "ow," a "hunhq" and a "yeah," singer John Petkovic spits in the face of college radio's smug self-effacement and fear of grand gestures. These guys are anything but freshmen.

Petkovic's lyrics are literate and worth listening for. "Blood on the Moon" stresses the band's atmospheric side with its cinematic feel. Remakes include Pere Ubu's "Chinese Radiation" and the Association's "Never My Love," which Cobra Verde coats in a deep purple glaze of sorrow and menace.