Waved Out

Guided by Voices made a name for themselves in the '80s and early '90s with albums of engagingly quirky, independent art-rock, fueled largely by the imagination and peculiar melodic ear of Robert Pollard (along with fellow GBV songwriter Tobin Sprout). The material on Pollard's second solo release continues the distinctly offbeat trend. Despite his falling out with Sprout and the personnel housecleaning within GBV that followed, the former schoolteacher continues to make embracing indie pop--idiosyncratic and occasionally bizarre, yet harmonious and heartfelt. Pollard has always embraced lo-fi, garage-sound recording techniques, and Waved Out makes few concessions to that aesthetic, churning out a simple sonic overlay and letting the baroque lyrical structure poetically fill out the unencumbered approach. --Matthew Cooke