Guided by Voices: Nowhere to Go But Up ( 2023 )

      Nowhere to Go But Up? I don't know. You can't go up much more than 4.5/5.0. The current lineup of Guided by Voices seem to have found their sweet spot. Nowhere to Go But Up was their third release of 2023 and it consolidated the gains of Welshpool Frillies. Hopefully, this week's release, Strut of Kings, keeps up the momentum. It's their only scheduled album for 2024, so it should be solid. The lead singles have been promising. 

     The difference between Nowhere to Go But Up and Welshpool Frillies is every song on NTGBU is very good, but doesn't have the highs of WF, except "Local Master Airplane" which is an all-timer. This lineup is at its best when they split the difference between Earthquake Glue mode, and worshiping The Who. It makes sense because 60% of the band played on Earthquake Glue. However, Mark Shue's bass and Bobby Bare Jr.'s rhythm guitar are next level. NTGBU is a concise, 11 song set that's all killer and no filler. 

     As I already mentioned, "Local Master Airplane" is the standout track on this record. It begins with Doug Gillard's insistent guitar strumming, then Bob comes in, then explodes with the rest of the band. I love when Pollard comes in on the second verse, "Ten billion clocks in on the beat, synchronized feet on the pummeling, crumbling rip rapped path through the horror world". At the end, it rides out on a great Gillard solo. Perhaps the most impressive song on the album is the closer, "Song and Dance". It's four and a half minutes of musical restraint and tension combined with one of Pollard's greatest vocal performances. At the beginning, it almost has a "Behind Blue Eyes" vibe. Bob's lyrics are outstanding. "Should have seen rock and roll had nowhere left to go". About 3/4 through the song starts to rocks out, then fades with some olde tyme music. It's not as hooky as much of the rest of the album, but it's a powerful bit of songcraft. "We're Going the Wrong Way In" is a nice, mid-tempo track that perfectly illustrates the combination of Earthquake Glue and The Who on this album. "For the Home" is a fun, stomp rocker with soaring vocals. The only gripe I have with Nowhere to Go But Up is the album cover. It's an old photo of an athlete reaching to the sky while his admirers look onward. I much prefer Bob's collage work. 

     So, as soon as I can get my hands on Strut of Kings, I will check it out and write a post. Then I'll do a wrap up of my final rankings of this discography and a suggested playlist of the best tracks from the current Guided by Voices lineup. Hopefully, I can get back on track with the 2004 dive and publish that series by mid-July. After that, I'm not sure where Sound Mind will be going. Maybe I'll go back and revisit some of my old, crappy posts and fix them up. That should keep me busy. Peace.