Boston Spaceships

Brown Submarine

[3/5]

The Robert Pollard onslaught continues with the third album this year from the former Guided By Voices icon. This one, a collaboration with John Moen (the Decemberists) and Chris Slusarenko (the Takeovers, GBV), falls somewhere between the unfocused Superman Was A Rocker and the return-to-form Robert Pollard Is Off To Business, which featured some of his strongest melodies in years. A scrappy but loveable collection of power pop, Brown Submarine essays uncomplicated riffing you’ve certainly heard before, but usually suggests excellent sources-Pink Flag-era Wire on “Rat Trap,” for example, while the more wistfully jangly bits, like “Two Girl Area,” recall Tommy Keene, who’s toured with Pollard. This hoist-a-beer simplicity will undoubtedly sound better live-good thing, since Pollard has planned his first club jaunt since 2006 this fall in support. (GUIDED BY VOICES INC.) Dan LeRoy