''Welshpool Frillies'' is the 38th

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

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 ...

. It was released on July 21, 2023.

Recording, release, and promotion

''Weshpool Frillies'' continued a series of eight studio albums by

in three years and unlike their previous releases that were mostly recorded at a New Jersey studio, the band's producer Travis Harrison instead recorded this live to tape in a Brooklyn basement. This album was preceded by the singles "Seedling" in May and "Meet the Star" in June". They also promoted this release with a brief North American tour.

Critical 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 Mark Deming writing that "GbV have been on an unprecedented hot streak since 2017" by making a stable line-up of musicians to support frontman

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 ...

and this album is "an especially impressive example of the strength of Guided by Voices as a band rather than another Pollard project". Writing for ''

BrooklynVegan ''BrooklynVegan'' is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, before broadeni ...

'', Bill Pearis chose this as one of the best albums of the week, stating that "the current lineup of the band rivals any of the “classic” lineups of decades past" and characterizes this release as "down and dirty", due to being recorded

live to tape Broadcasting is the distribution of audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began with ...

. Eamon Sweeney of ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' gave this album 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "yet another collection of scuzzy pop and delicious riffs, topped off by Pollard’s deadpan voice and surreal lyrics" and stating that the band has evolved from their

lo-fi music Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

roots. At ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

'', Jon Buckland wrote that this album has a "sparkling lyrical display" that "is peppered with powerful language hinting at events untold, slotting together in surprising mixtures, shapes, and forms" and editors chose this as one of the best albums of June and July 2023. Michael James Hall of '' Under the Radar'' scored this album a 7.5 out of 10, calling it "a shimmering highlight in the constant, often delightful stream of GBV output".

Track listing

All songs written by

. #"Meet the Star" – 3:26 #"Cruisers' Cross" – 3:30 #"Romeo Surgeon" – 3:18 #"Chain Dance" – 1:58 #"Why Won't You Kiss Me" – 2:09 #"Animal Concentrate" – 2:38 #"Cats on Heat" – 1:39 #"Mother Mirth" – 1:27 #"Don't Blow Your Dream Job" – 3:34 #"Awake Man" – 2:19 #"Rust Belt Boogie" – 4:08 #"Seedling" – 2:47 #"Better Odds" – 2:43 #"Radioactive Pigeons" – 2:30 #"Welshpool Frillies" – 2:54

Personnel

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

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 ...

– guitar, backing vocals, string

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

* Kevin March – drums, backing vocals *

– lead vocals, guitar, cover art, layout *Mark Shue – bass guitar, backing vocals Additional personnel *Travis Harrison –

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 ...

References

External links