With a workrate verging on the obsessive, Guided By Voices frontman Robert Pollard has reputedly written around 1,700 songs to date and with the release of Of Course You Are his tally of 24 solo LPs has outstripped the 23 he’s helmed with GBV to date.
Naysayers have frequently quibbled about quantity overwhelming quality where Pollard’s singular career is concerned, but recent studio LPs Blazing Gentlemen (2013) and last year’s Faulty Superheroes were precisely-recorded, state of the art alt rock records which almost entirely avoided the spotty, lo-fi traits inherent in GBV’s early work.
Cut from similar, well-tailored cloth, Of Course You Are is another of Pollard’s hallmark, brevity-fuelled excursions. The 12 tracks clock in at a breezy 33 minutes and, as most long-term disciples would expect, hooky anthems such as Little Pigs and the punchy, riff-smart My Daughter Yes She Knows largely dominate the agenda.
Much of it, admittedly, treads familiar, fanbase-appeasing ground, though the beautifully-crafted, Jeff Lynne-esque Losing It has broader mainstream potential and even the uninitiated are advised to heed the title of the atypically graceful, string-kissed Come And Listen.
