Guided By Voices
★★★★
Thick Rich And Delicious
GBV INC. CD/DL/LP
Still driven, still a law unto themselves.
Perhaps the paragon of productivity that time and motion bods would be best advised to study, Robert Pollard likely has more LPs queued for release as MOJO writes, but album number 42 is special. Showcasing GBV’s venerable leader as a self-proclaimed “student of hooks”, it gives cranked, Big Star-ish wares his usual surrealist twist, hence the mysterious Xeno Urban, variously described as “a zombie school” and “a man-made flower”, and the choogling instrumental Dance Of The Picnic Ants, equal parts jaw-harp twang and the Rollers’ Shang-A-Lang. Cutting songs direct to tape with few overdubs, Pollard and co also bring majestic stramash The Lighthouse Resurrection, cryptic curio Our Man Syracuse, and the dramatic power-chords of Mother John. Like its title promises, Thick Rich And Delicious is moreish powerpop; a dish best served loud.