41 albums in and Guided By Voices haven’t lost their nerve. The band that practically invented (or at least perfected) the lo-fi indie rock aesthetic are back with Universe Room, an album that once again stretches the limits of their chosen sonic tendencies. Assembled by the band’s longest running roster — Robert Pollard, Doug Gillard, Kevin March, Mark Shue, and Bobby Bare Jr — this new collection, out now via their own GBV Inc. imprint, is a testament to their continuing relevance and respect for the genre that birthed them and which they nurtured in return. The songs are still short, generally, and the melodies stretch like chewing gum (Bubblicious, not the cheap stuff). Pollard and his sneaky musical cohorts aren’t abandoning their usual terrain just yet. But they sure as hell know how to work the land.
The band and producer Travis Harrison develop a balance between the extreme fidelities of their past work and offer a set of 17 songs that revel in each member’s unconventional perspectives. Repeated choruses are few and far between, and even at its most basic, the music works as an impressionistic reflection of the various influences and experiences that the band brought with them into the studio. “I wanted to create, hopefully, an experience, kind of a wild ride, where the listener would want to hear it multiple times in order to grasp all the sections and fields of sound to discover something new with each listen,” says Pollard. “I trimmed down the songs so that there wasn’t a lot of repetition, so you get a lot of sections that happen only once or twice.” Like most of GBV’s records, you just get the lean meat on Universe Room.
Recently, guitarist Doug Gillard was kind enough to pull back the curtain for Beats Per Minute and offer a closer look at the inner workings of the band’s new record. From brief observations on sonic structure to moments of intense heartache and the occasional introduction by Marc Bolan, his insight into the genesis of these songs elevates our understanding of an already considerable work and positions it as one of the best they’ve released over the last ten years.
- “Driving Time”
“Bob assigned one song to each of the other four members to solely play and record the music for. ‘Driving Time’ went to Kevin March, who added cool guitars & bass as well as his main instrument, drums, and found industrial sounds he recorded while on tour. The vocals and main acoustic guitar heard here are Bob’s from his cassette demo, and Kevin layered some cool multiple single-note guitar tracks in there as well as synth.”
- “I Couldn’t See the Light”
” We recorded the instrumental basic track for this together in the studio. This is a majestic, multi-part, multi-tempo electric rock song adorned with subtle acoustic strums & strings in parts. Outro is the same as the intro with added strings, and a whole journey in between, all within 2:55. It’s not our crocheting journey, style journey or weight-loss journey, it’s just a journey. Bob wrote it, and we all take you through it with aplomb.
(“Mommy, why does everybody have aplomb?” -kid listening to this album).”
- “I Will Be a Monk”
“‘I Will Be A Monk’ sees the protagonist, pithy man of few words, proclaiming “I’ll try my best /to atone my crime / in silence/ never be another day to break my heart”. ‘IWBAM’ has an early-to-mid 70s folk-prog sound, with some chimey 60’s influence as well. I used one of the several wah pedals at Travis Harrison’s studio on some guitar lines because, why not?”
- “The Great Man”
“‘The Great Man’ is a 2-minute minor-key scorcher. It’s a powerful song featuring some Hermann-style Psycho string stabs I arranged per Bob’s request.”
- “Clearly Aware”
“A great, semi lo-fi song. The music was recorded in the studio with one mic picking up guitar, bass & drums. One guitar overdub near the end, & vocals of course.”
- “Dawn Believes”
“Bob assigned this song to me to play and record the music for, so I replayed his basic guitar part with 2 hollow body electrics, then added everything else- electrics, a little piano, 12-string acoustics, baritone guitar. “Dawn believes in the safety and quality of our products”, reads the label on a popular dishwashing liquid that inspired this title, and so does Guided By Voices, though we support music quality over music safety, anyday. This song builds up a bit, reminiscent of late 60’s psych-folk with flutey mellotron accentuating the intensity and perpetuating the corruption.”
- “Play Shadows”
“This was Mark Shue’s song to do the music for, and he played guitar, bass, guitar feedback layers, bass harmonics, a distantly mic’d snare, and did a fabled GbV amp-drop. An intense slow-burner.”
- “Fly Religion”
“Recorded this instrumental live in the studio as a band, including the outro ad libs. ‘Fly Religion’ is a super cool track, slightly reminiscent of songs from the time of Space Gun or Zeppelin Over China. Travis adds the sound of a jet at end, per Bob’s notes.”
- “The Well Known Soldier”
“A fingerpicked acoustic instrumental played by Bob, taken from his demo.”
- “Hers Purple”
“Bobby Bare Jr. recorded the music for ‘Hers Purple’, featuring Bobby on guitar, bass and drums, piano played by his son Beckham, and some lead guitar added later by Bob.”
- “Independent Animal”
“Rockin’ pop song the band recorded basics for in same room, and has traces of classic Bob & GbV pop, a lá side projects ‘Speak Kindly’ and ESP Ohio, clocking in at 1:30.”
- “19th Man to Fly An Airplane”
“An epic prog rock opera. First part features BBJ on toy piano & a lead-guitar-as-trumpet fanfare in a march through a village with “tiny houses”. (Mrs. Falbo’s Tiny Town?) Bob recognizes BBJ’s Nashville heritage, mentioning “moral haggards” with doubtful thumbs. Small fuzz guitar licks and Who-like breaks make this an eventful listen.”
- “Elfin Flowers with Knees”
“‘Elfin Flower With Knees’ is a sinister slower hard rock song. Features probably the most psychedelic Syd Barrett-like lyrics on the album. It ends singing about an ‘elfin flower with knees / from a drugged-up morning paraglide’.”
- “Fran Cisco”
“This is a Spanish flamenco influenced song on the heels of something from DaCapo or Forever Changes. Cousin to our album It’s Not Them’s ‘Spanish Coin’. Minor chords change to majors, Kevin plays bongos, congas, shakers, also uses brushes and blasticks on drums, some strings happen, I added some classical guitar licks, Mark plays strong bass lines, & Bob croons in character to ‘Fran Cisco’ in dramatic fashion. They say this cat Fran is a baad mutha.. (shut your mouth) – Huh? its okay, he’s just talkin’ bout Fran Cisco.”
- “Aluminum Stingray Girl”
“‘Aluminum Stingray Girl’ has Bob singing and playing almost everything. He’s on rhythm and lead guitar as well as distorted bass played thru Mark’s Ampeg stage rig. Travis Harrison adds a funky floor tom (uhh, from Kevin’s stage rig).”
- “Aesop Dreamed of Lions”
“One of my faves on the record. Really great vocal melodies. Mid-tempo beautiful rock. ‘Palace of drapes/ flowers and pests/ souring grapes/ from unwanted guests’. I crafted an extended guitar sustain at the end by layering tracks.”
- “Everybody’s a Star”
“All Bob playing on this song, save for a cod-Hawaiian style slide part he asked me to add. Bob announces this final song with ‘Marc Bolan says ‘Hello beautiful Americans’; he’s been dancing with Shelley Winters.”
Universe Room is out now via GBV Inc. You can order the album here. Follow the band on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
