Guided By Voices US Vinyl & CDs

Review: There's no denying that getting hold of a new Guided By Voices album is a good thing. Hitting play for the first time is as exciting as it is nervy - surely they have to go off the boil at some point? 20 LPs in and it hasn't happened yet, so we'll see. Digressions aside, much as we love the introduction to their fresh ideas and work, few things come close to revisiting their finest hours when you've not heard them in years. Originally arriving in 1996, one of two full length releases that year, the other being Under the Bushes Under the Stairs, Tonics & Chasers is every bit as rousing and life-affirming as these guys get, and from the word go, with the gritty lo-fi sensibilities and distortion of 'Satellite'. Similarly leftfield tones abound on 'My Thoughts Are A Gas', to name just one more, while the likes of 'Wingtip Repair' are equally beguiling but in a different (curious piano) kind of way. In contrast, fare such as 'At The Farms' could almost pass for the work of a mainstream rock band. Then you listen closer.