GUIDED BY VOICES レコード& CD

Review: Guided By Voices have a forty year history which they have drawn up on here. Strut Of Kings is their 41st album and is another one which confirms they are true indie rock royalty. It was mostly recorded in a studio in Kings County, New York and nods towards some of the more malevolent thorne sitters in history. It makes for a surreal year regal listen that features standout tunes like 'Olympus Cock In Radiana', 'This Will Go On' and 'Show Me The Castle.' A triumphant return indeed.

Review: According to Guided By Voices frontman Robert Pollard, Same Place the Fly Got Smashed is at the apex of the band's creative output. In the James Greer Biography, Guided By Voices: A Brief History: Twenty One Years of Hunting Accidents In the Forests of Rock and Roll he says this record has some of his all-time favourite songs on it, and 'Pendulum' is home to his finest lyrics. Originally released in 1990, the fourth studio album from Guided By Voices is certainly potent stuff. The opening sample tells us to "get ready for excitement and adventure", then the raw mood of 'Airshow '88''s riff marks the beginning of an epic journey. From the muscular 'Order For The New Slave Trade', to the tender acoustic heartbreak on 'When She Turns 50', the gritty hypnosis invoked by 'Ambergris', and psychedelic folk-pop on 'How Loft I Am?', resistance remains impossible, 34 years on.

Review: While many in the music industry would shout that the album format has long since died death, nobody bothered to tell American indie stalwarts Guided by Voices. Or if they did, the band ignored the cries and carried on as they were. Welshpool Frillies is their frankly hard to believe 38th studio album and another good old indie rock knees up that carries on a fine run of form that dates back to 2017. Frontman Robert Pollard is joined by a fine stable of musicians who help serve up a scuzzy mix of pop and big riffs that will delight fans old and new.

Review: Sandbox is the 1987 sophomore opus by Ohio rock n' rollers Guided By Voices, noted for its contrasting style and appearance to ther debut Devil In My Toes. This new version is a legit repress from the band's original label Scat Records, driving home the band's characteristically rollicking hard rock sound yet also throwing many a curveball, such as quoting the Beatles and some proud, accented singing.