''Styles We Paid For'' is the 32nd studio album by American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

Guided by Voices Guided by Voices is an American indie rock band formed in 1983 in Dayton, Ohio. It has made frequent personnel changes but always maintained the presence of principal songwriter Robert Pollard. The most well-known lineup of the band consisted o ...

, released on December 11, 2020. The album was initially intended to be recorded only with analog technology and was entitled ''Before Computers'', but the band had to scrap that idea due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and instead assembled the recordings by sharing digital files from their respective homes. The album was preceded by the single "Mr. Child" in October and has received positive reviews from critics.

Reception

Editors at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

rated this album 4 out of 5 stars, with critic Timothy Monger writing that it is "no slouch of a record" in spite of Guided by Voices' prodigious output and the band members "gamely readjusted their approach to suit the times and continued their hot streak with another reliably solid latter-day release" with remote collaboration during the

. Writing for Guitar.com, Gary Walker rated ''Styles We Paid For'' a 7 out of 10, characterizing it as "restless, varied, challenging and absolutely teeming with ideas" and praising the guitar playing of

Doug Gillard Douglas Scott Gillard (born December 23, 1965) is an American guitarist and songwriter. He has been a member of major indie pop and punk bands, most notably Guided by Voices, Nada Surf, Bambi Kino, Death of Samantha, and Cobra Verde. Early ...

. A brief review in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' rates it 3.5 out of 5 stars—between "good" and "excellent"—and calls this album "piled high with

indie-rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent record labels, by th ...

anthems of a guy who never runs out of

garage-rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

kicks". ''The Spill Magazine''s Matt Morris rated ''Styles We Paid For'' 3 out of 5, stating that the album lacks variety: " fortunately the earworms are only scattered. While nothing is bad, only a few songs truly stick out. With very little instrumental variation and few changes in tempo songs quickly start to blend into each other."

Track listing

All songs written by

Robert Pollard Robert Ellsworth Pollard Jr. (born October 31, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the frontman and leader of indie rock band Guided by Voices, which he also the band’s only constant member. In addition to this, he has also rele ...

#"Megaphone Riley" – 2:06 #"They Don't Play the Drums Anymore" – 2:08 #"Slaughterhouse" – 4:32 #"Endless Seafood" – 2:58 #"Mr Child" – 3:22 #"Stops" – 2:04 #"War of the Devils" – 2:32 #"Electronic Windows to Nowhere" – 1:57 #"Never Abandon Ship" – 1:56 #"Roll Me to Heaven" – 2:16 #"In Calculus Strategem" – 2:04 #"Crash at Lake Placebo" – 2:45 #"Liquid Kid" – 3:23 #"Time Without Looking" – 1:43 #"When Growing Was Simple" – 2:31

Personnel

Guided by Voices * Bobby Bare Jr. – guitar, backing vocals *

– guitar, backing vocals * Kevin March – drums, backing vocals *

– lead vocals, guitar, cover art, layout *Mark Shue – bass guitar, backing vocals Additional personnel *Matt Davis –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

*Travis Harrison – engineer, mixing,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

*Ray Ketchem – drum engineering *Mike Lipps – engineering *Joe Patterson – layout *Jeff Powell – mastering for

vinyl LP The LP (from long playing or long play) is an analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specificati ...

edition *Jamal Ruhe – mastering

References

External links

Entry in the Guided by Voices Database
* *
Review from Spectrum CultureReview from Tinnitist
{{Authority control 2020 albums Guided by Voices albums

Reception

Track listing

Personnel

See also

References

External links