Coming as a surprise to no one on the heels of Robert Pollard’s latest solo release, there will also be a new Guided By Voices album, Please Be Honest, in the near future. Unfortunately, it’s wont feature the new GBV lineup—Bobby Bare, Jr., Kevin March, Nick Mitchell, and Mark Shue—but rather main man Robert Pollard playing all of the instruments.
Talking to MOJO, Pollard describes “My Zodiac Companion,” the lead single off of the new album, as “heavy drama written for the glam-rock stage. Kind of like Rocky Horror Picture Show.” While there are no mentions sweet transvestites or nods to ’50s sci-fi, Companion does have a certain epic quality that recalls “Red Ink Superman” off of Pollard’s 2003 release, Motel Of Fools.
As mentioned earlier, Pollard does all of the instrumentation on this record, and while he is a very good musician, the track begs for the nuance that Nick Mitchell provided on Pollard’s most recent release Of Course You Are. The track feels like it could use the more lush production from Mitchell (or Ric Ocasek), or perhaps even the tape hiss that marked so much early GBV. However, as this is a Pollard tune, the hook swings and will be trapped in your noggin for hours after listening to it. In other words, the Jose Cuervo-fueled live version is going to smoke.
Please Be Honest will be available April 22nd, and you can hear “My ZodiacCompanion” over at MOJO.
[via Stereogum]