Guided By Voices

Greetings internet!  Hope everyone has had an enjoyable 2012 so far, I for one have managed to be even lazier than usual, which has been fantastic. But now it's time to end that and do the first write up of 2012.  The post goes to Guided By Voices, who graced us with a New Year's Day present, their new album Let's Go Eat the Factory.  The album, which came out January 1st of this year, is a pretty significant LP for the group.  It marks the first release since the band's 2004 break-up, and more importantly, the first full-length with the original (or as they call it, "classic") lineup since 1996's album Under the Bushes Under the Stars.  As I've written prior, Guided By Voices were important for the indie rock movement in the early to mid 90's, and they're definitely one of my favorites from that era.  Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes are absolute classics.  That's why it'll be tough to judge the most recent Factory, and also why it'll fall under heavy criticism.  With a band like GBV, the expectations are lofty.  Not only are they supposed to be good, but it'll be compared with those timeless LPs they've created earlier in their career.  Luckily, the album is pretty catchy.  They stick with their usual setup, quick snippets of garage rock, lo-fi pop that barely eclipse the 2-minute mark.  The relieving news is that Factory proves lead man Robert Pollard still has some juice left in him. Check a few highlights from it below.

Doughnut for a Snowman

Chocolate Boy

Waves