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How is it that after dozens of records and hundreds of songs, it still seems relevant to write about Robert Pollard, even now that indie rock archetypes Guided By Voices have been broken up for two years? It probably has something to with the fact that every time he releases a new batch of songs, we hear the excitement and vitality we’re all constantly searching for in younger bands that have barely written enough songs to fill an EP. His new record, Normal Happiness, sees him exploring the same terrain he always has, which is to say he’s written 16 more pop songs that pack an admirable amount of Big Rock punch, despite only one of them clocking in at over three minutes. Among the record’s many standouts is ‘Accidental Texas Who’, during which Pollard’s flippant British accent somehow works perfectly. Taken as a whole, which, at just over 30 minutes in length, it sort of has to be, the record stands as further proof that Pollard is still one of the most consistently exciting songwriters around — and he probably will be for years to come.
