Guided by Voices – Space Gun

Space Gun is the only Guided by Voices album of 2018. Now, that might not mean much by itself, but considering Dayton, Ohio’s finest usually average more than double that a year, it’s an unexpected show of restraint. Whittling their yearly output down to these 15 songs suggests a renewed sense of focus and judging from the album’s first-pumping opener/title track/first single Space Gun, it’s paying off.

It’s the first song in a long time to reach the soaring, sugary heights of their power-pop peak in the 90s – a fruitful period of the band’s career often overshadowed by their earlier records – and it suits them. It probably helps that half of that era’s line-up re-joined in 2016, including guitarist/songwriter Doug Gillard whose supreme knack for melody and power can clearly be seen here from top to bottom.

While one-man song factory Robert Pollard is undoubtedly capable of penning more than his fair share of bangers, he also quite famously has no off button. As a result, a GBV album these days often comes across like a prolonged stream of consciousness with little to no editing. Rough, smooth, exceptional, dull – you get it all, and sometimes he just needs someone to rein him in.

Thankfully, even when Pollard is out there singing about ‘the future of flutes’ (King Flute) or how much he loves kangaroos (I Love Kangaroos), there’s a band on the top of their game here backing him up, sometimes even coming to his rescue mid-song. Blundering, clunky songs like Blink Blank and Liar’s Box, which threaten to go off the rails, are saved by an about turn here or a rousing chord change there that successfully tie up the loose ends Pollard’s been pulling round the room for years now like a cat with a ball of wool. And for every one of those, there’s a song like Ark Technician, See My Field or the aforementioned opener that can hold its own with the rest of Pollard’s back-breaking catalogue.

Overall, Space Gun gives hope for the continuing future of a band that’s already died twice. While there’s a few bumps here and there, this is the sound of a group drunk off its own energy and excited to be alive. With a little surgical focus, this band could surely rival their own past glories, and maybe produce some new ones.

Listen to: Space Gun, Ark Technician, Liar's Box