THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In case you hadn’t noticed, Robert Pollard has a very strong work ethic. With most of their touring canceled due to the pandemic and then a fractured kneecap, Guided By Voices kept busy in the studio, recording and releasing eight albums in the past three years and garnering piles of rave reviews in the process. The pandemic records were particularly notable and unique in that the band members recorded most of their instruments individually in separate cities.
Welshpool Frillies, the ever-prolific and always-active band’s second release of 2023, finds the gang back together. Cut in a Brooklyn basement with producer Travis Harrison, much of the album was recorded live to tape. The catchy earworms in these new songs are undeniable, as the kinetic energy of the band is captured in its most raw and pure form. The album is brash, no-frills, and punky, inspired by the wiliness of ’90s-era GBV, specifically the Scalping The Guru compilation that Pollard put together in 2022.
Guided By Voices kicked off 2023 with the LP La La Land, described by Pollard as “a companion piece to Tremblers and Goggles By Rank (that) continues to explore a path of diversity in styles and in longer, more adventurous song structures.” In 2022, GBV shared three other records: The aforementioned Tremblers and Goggles By Rank, Crystal Nuns Cathedral and Scalping The Guru.
2023 also marks the 40th anniversary of the band’s start in Dayton, Ohio. Pollard was an elementary school teacher with no formal music training, and his unlikely success has been an odds-defying adventure. It’s never too late to discover this vital rock band and join the GBV cult.”
