Robert Pollard's publicists make the exaggerated claim that he has only has to contend with his "miraculously consistent greatness". While this may be over-egging it, he certainly never seems to suffer from writer's block.
Whether working alone or as leader of Guided By Voices, he is astonishingly prolific and I'd challenge anyone to tell the difference between his solo and group output.
Here he reminds me of The Man Who Sold The World period Bowie whilst also sounding very REM-ish. And like Michael Stipe, he has a penchant for oblique lyrics so songs like Cafe Of Elimination and Photo Enforced Human Highway are wide open for interpretation.
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The eleven tracks are characteristically brief with a seeming aversion to exceeding the three minute mark.
As ever, Pollard appears to be driven by the need to get material out instead of worrying about getting the perfect mix or, perish the thought, adding a bit of polish.
You get the impression he could continue to put out albums like this for the next decade at least and, based on past evidence, he probably will.
Robert Pollard / Guided By Voices website
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