Guided By Voices :: “Strut of Kings” - GBV Inc.
The poetic prolificacy of the Dayton, OH-based group, Guided By Voices, is nothing short of a meticulous miracle in music mediation, as their catalog of divine chaos, spiritual scripture and blue-collar blues leads with an iron fist throughout the band’s 40 plus years of sacrifice to sound. Lead by mad scientist and lyrical lunatic, Robert Pollard, GBV has successfully ricocheted throughout the galaxy’s gastrointestinal like that of some poised pinball wielding the rare rhythm of ancient activity that not all bands have the luxury to tap into, or interface with within their careers. They’ve managed to plant their roots so far and so deep into the culture’s subconscious soil that anyone from the around world can visit this legendary vegetation at any given moment, while simultaneously choosing teleportation through the band’s rich and utterly electrifying ecosystem in some analog attempt to decipher the cosmic codes of the poetic psyche to further understand what keeps this unit monumentally motivated after all these years.
From ”Sandbox”, to “Vampire On Titus”, to the band’s groundbreaking 1994 classic, “Bee Thousand”, GBV has successfully been able to shape-shift with the times, while carefully carrying the painful prose via the dangerous dexterity of being in a working band like no others before them. With dozens upon dozens of sonic artifacts orbiting the skeletal system of sound all at once, its difficult, to say the least, where to begin in the band’s calculated catalog of chaos, but to better understand a band, especially of this active caliber and nature, it's best to meet them where they are now and not dwell so much on where they’ve been, who they were, or what they said in the past. GBV has earned the retro response of the past, present and future of their listeners, with a strong emphasis on present as we dive into the band’s most recent effort entitled “Strut of Kings” that was released earlier the summer.
With the fractured familiarity and soothing temperatures found on most GBV releases, “Strut of Kings” offers this almighty ageless antidote that can only be found within the matured minds of our leaders and masters in the world of music, who’ve dedicated their mortal lives to artistic integrity for better, or for worse. With tracks such as “Dear Onion”, “Caveman Running Naked”, and the album’s blissful ender, “Bicycle Garden”, “Strut of Kings” offers this technically textured landscape of nostalgic genius and navigation within the damaged system of sound, salary and social solidarity. A watermark in the group’s holistic history as the album was completed on MLK Day, “Strut of Kings” marks the band’s 40th studio album to date and there’s no sign of stopping, or emphasis on the wear and tear endured by the band’s incredible infrastructure of rich history and cultural influence.
