It seems crazy, but it's been seven months since the last Guided by Voices album. I've been looking forward to the release of Universe Room since I saw the band at The Grog Shop last July. This lineup of Guided by Voices is a live juggernaut. Since I ranked their entire discography last year, I felt an obligation to add their new album. I will continue to do so as long as this incarnation of the band stays together.
Unfortunately, Universe Room doesn't break any new ground. Once again, Doug Gillard and Kevin March are doing most of the heavy lifting. The closest they come to capturing the energy of their live shows is the track, "The Great Man". However, there are no songs from Universe Room that I would add to the essential Guided by Voices canon. It's still a good, solid record, but they have many releases that I would return to before this one. In fairness, I have only streamed it a few times. I've yet to listen to my physical copy of the record on my system. There are a couple songs that are borderline canonical. "Fly Religion" is a propulsive jam and probably Pollard's best performance on the album. There's a run of three one-minute tracks, the last of which, "Independent Animal" is a concise, up-tempo rocker. This is followed by the hilariously titled songs, "19th Man to Fly an Airplane" and "Elfin Flower With Knees". "FranCisco" is a bizarre, Spanish number.
At this point, I would rate Universe Room at 3.5 Stars and place it behind their previous album, Strut of Kings in my ranking. I fully expect Uncle Bob to release at least one more album this year. Hopefully, it will be more focused and energetic, especially the vocals and lyrics. I'd also like to see bassist Mark Shue featured more in the mix. He's a fantastic player, and great in a live setting. Peace.
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