Guided By Voices
Universe Room
GBV Inc. [2025]
“A labyrinthine album from the Dayton, Ohio institution that reveals new melodic charms with each additional listen”
Album Overview: Just like clockwork, Guided by Voices return with their first LP of 2025, their 41st album overall and 18th with the lineup that’s been steady since 2017’s August By Cake. Covering 17 tracks in just over 40 minutes, Universe Room contains multitudes, covering just about every style the band has attempted in the past and then some.
Musical Style: Over the years GBV’s sound has evolved from the lo-fi scrappy basement experiments of their early albums and mid-90s classics to the higher production values of their TVT and second Matador era. While they revisited some of their more DIY roots during the “classic lineup” reunion circa 2012-2014, since the current lineup has solidified they’ve settled into a groove with mostly mid-tempo rockers that still embrace lead singer and songwriter Robert Pollard’s “4 P’s of rock” philosophy (psychedelic, punk, prog, and power-pop).
Evolution of Sound: While most GBV albums embrace a variety of sounds, on Universe Room the emphasis is firmly on the psychedelic and prog side of the coin. The band’s usual heavy art-rock arrangements are here and get pulled to opposite ends of the spectrum, at times enhanced with ambitious baroque elements and at others stripped down to abstract acoustic guitar lines that are emblematic of Pollard’s idiosyncratic playing style. There’s even a Latin-inspired track complete with Spanish guitar arpeggios and congas (“FranCisco”). With each track averaging under two and half minutes, the album’s rapid-fire sequencing might suggest a more punk-like songwriting approach, but the album’s songs are more like mini-epics, dismissing typical verse-chorus structures in favor of maze-like twists and turns. There are still plenty of hooks, as with any Pollard album, but they might take a few extra listens to reveal themselves to casual listeners.
Artists with Similar Fire: The album’s ambitious arrangements and non-linear song structures recall 70s progressive and art-rock acts like David Bowie, Van der Graaf Generator, and Roxy Music, along with some of the more out-there contingents of the Elephant 6 collective (if the latter had a beefier guitar sound).
Pivotal Tracks: The variety of Universe Room means that not every track will appeal to every listener, but some that stand out on repeated listens include the catchy “I Couldn’t See The Light” and “Fly Religion,” the psychedelic “I Will Be A Monk”, closer “Everybody’s A Star,” and the sleeper hit/future classic “Independent Animal.”
Lyrical Strength: There are a few tracks that seem to obliquely reference events in the larger world (the satirical “The Great Man”), but as with most GBV records Pollard’s collage-like lyrical style is as inscrutable as ever (in the best way possible). These are imagery-heavy, dada-esque cut-ups that invite multiple interpretations from those brave enough to make the attempt.
Final Groove: Universe Room probably won’t attract many new converts to the GBV (not a) cult, and even some of the band’s hardcore supporters might have trouble cracking the album’s code at first. But it’s a textbook example of a “grower” album that rewards multiple listens, and those willing to put in the time will find one of Bob and the band’s most adventurous albums in recent memory.
GUIDED BY VOICES REVIEW HISTORY
Strut Of Kings (2024) / Nowhere To Go But Up (2023) / Welshpool Frillies (2023) / La La Land (2023) / Scalping The Guru (2022) / Tremblers And Goggles By Rank (2022) / Crystal Nuns Cathedral (2022) / It’s Not Them. It Couldn’t Be Them. It Is Them! (2021) / Cub Scout Bowling Pins: Clang Clang Ho (2021) / Earth Man Blues (2021) / Mirrored Aztec (2020) / Surrender Your Poppy Field (2020) / Sweating The Plague (2019) / Warp And Woof (2019) / Zeppelin Over China (2019) / Space Gun (2018) / Ogre’s Trumpet (2018) / How Do You Spell Heaven (2017) / August By Cake (2017) / Please Be Honest (2016) / Suitcase 4 (2015) / Cool Planet (2014) / Motivational Jumpsuit (2014) / English Little League (2013) / Down By The Racetrack EP (2013) / The Bears For Lunch (2012) / Class Clown Spots A UFO (2012) / Let’s Go Eat The Factory (2012)
GUIDED BY VOICES LINKS
Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Rockathon Records
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