Guided by Voices: Sweating the Plague ( 2019 )

      Sweating the Plague. Interesting album title for October 25, 2019. Just saying. 

     After four albums and four EP's, this lineup of Guided by Voices found their sound. Robert Pollard finally had a powerhouse rock band; a band capable of playing in any style with electric chops. Now he could do lo-fi with intent, rather than out of necessity. He could bring the power to power-pop. He could bring the energy and ambition of The Who. More importantly, he had a band that could competently pull off prog and psychedelic rock. An undeniable chemistry had developed between bassist Mark Shue and drummer Kevin March. Shue is, by far, the best bass player Pollard has ever worked with. Doug Gillard and Bobby Bare Jr. are a deadly combination of guitar licks and crunchy chords. Pollard's lyrics have also become less word collage and more direct over the years. And they kill it as a live band. 

     The opening track, "Downer", is a menacing song that is periodically interrupted by the rhythm section going off for a few bars at a time. "Street Party" is a 2-minute rocker where March does some interesting off-beat rhythms. After the down-tempo "Mother's Milk Elementary", we come to the meat of the album with the run of the infectious and propulsive "Heavy Like the World", the riff-tastic "Ego Central High" and the downhill assault of "The Very Second". Other songs of note are "Unfun Glitz", which is a muscular banger and "Your Cricket is Rather Unique", featuring Kevin March on lead vocals and Mark Shue on backing vocals. Robert Pollard is in top form on tracks like "Immortals". And just for good measure, they throw in "My Wrestling Days Are Over", which sounds like a lost song from the Propeller sessions. Sweating the Plague is an impressive, solid 4-star album. 

     On the housekeeping front, I am currently working on my 1974 album deep dive, while also plowing through these Guided by Voices albums. So, if I don't post for a couple days it's because I'm trying to make more headway on the deep dive. Ideally, I can squeeze 1974 into the middle of the Guided by Voices series since I have time before the new album comes out in late June. After that, I will move on to 2004. Peace.