Guided By Voices frontman Robert Pollard is famously prolific, so it’s not exactly a huge surprise when he releases new music. But this release is worth a bit more fanfare than usual. That’s because Guided By Voices has just announced a new record called August By Cake, the 100th studio album Pollard has released since Forever Since Breakfast came out in 1986. A press release put out by the band even points out that Bob Dylan has only released “roughly 39 studio albums since 1959,” and that’s including his work with The Traveling Wilburys. Basically, Pollard is daring Dylan to start churning out albums as fast as he can.
As for August By Cake, the album has an all-new Guided By Voices lineup (or at least half-new), with Pollard joined by newbies Bobby Bare Jr. and Mark Shue, as well as returning GBV members Kevin March and Doug Gillard—the latter of whom reunited with Pollard onstage back in July. August By Cake will also be the band’s first double album ever, coming in at a whopping 32 tracks.
August By Cake will be available on April 7, and you can hear the first track—”Hiking Skin”—at this link. Additionally, Guided By Voices has announced a handful of tour dates in support of the album, which you can see below.
Guided By Voices 2017 Tour
4/7— Ready Room—St. Louis, MO
4/14—Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival—Indio, CA
4/15—Bimbo’s 365 Club—San Francisco, CA
4/17—Doug Fir Lounge—Portland, OR
4/18—Nuemos—Seattle, WA
4/21—Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival—Indio, CA
4/28—Skully’s Music Diner—Columbus, OH
4/29—The Pyramid Scheme—Grand Rapids, MI
5/5—Magic Stick—Detroit, MI
5/6—Grog Shop—Cleveland, OH