Robert Pollard (high)kicks off his 101st full-length record—Guided By Voices’ 32-track, double-LP monolith August By Cake, released earlier this year, was number 100—with a song so catchy you’ll wear out the repeat button (or the turntable stylus) playing it over and over again. With its simple riff and typically anthemic chorus, the immediately indelible “The Birthday Democrats” amply proves that Pollard’s unprecedented creative spark shows no signs of going dark. The rest of How Do You Spell Heaven confirms that notion. Pollard ceded the spotlight to his bandmates—guitar wizard Doug Gillard, drummer Kevin March, bassist Mark Shue and second guitarist Bobby Bare Jr.—on a fair amount of August By Cake numbers, but the streamlined, consistent Heaven (16 tunes) is all Pollard-penned, even the instrumental “Pearly Gates Smoke Machine,“ which features Gillard dealing off a litany of hot licks. The songwriting deity admits “I dream of drinking” on “Cretinous Number Ones” and implores you to “take a shot with your eyes down” on the burst of melodic power pop that’s “Diver Dan.” Clearly, the church, er, the club is going to remain open for a while. Let us pray.
—Matt Hickey
