Crystal Nuns Cathedral

Alien indie rock giants Guided by Voices tendency toward prolific output became more or less a given after their 2010 reunion. Though there were different breakups and recalibrations along the way, between 2012s Lets Go Eat the Factory and 2021s dynamic and grandiose Its Not Them. It Couldnt Be Them. It Is Them!, various versions of the band released no less than 16 other full-length albums, sometimes arriving at a rate of three in a single year. With that much music being generated so quickly, even the strongest creative minds could risk running in place, but at this point in their trajectory, Guided by Voices albums are all about the subtle differences that separate them from the one (or five) that directly preceded them. The groups 35th studio album, Crystal Nuns Cathedral, follows Its Not Them by a matter of months, and there are moments where the record continues the focus on string arrangements and dense instrumentation that graced Its Not Them. The flamenco guitars, brass, and dramatic strings on the last album recalled Forever Changes-era Love at times, but on songs like "Climbing a Ramp," strings meet with moody overdriven guitars and Robert Pollards laser-focused vocal harmonies for a more cinematic, rock-oriented application. Tracks like this and "Eye City" use strings to emphasize how much more involved the arrangements on this album can be than work from even a few years earlier. Guided by Voices have been known to turn on a dime from heartfelt melodic rock to futuristic prog, but Crystal Nuns Cathedral finds a route closer to the middle by turning in 12 relatively concise slices of only occasionally angular power pop. Guitar-driven tracks like "Never Mind the List" and "Come North Together" are fantastically incomplex, exemplifying Pollards time-honored pop songwriting sensibilities with meaty drums pushing his hooky melodies forward. "Excited Ones" is similar, adding a glammy stomp and reverby handclaps to the mix. Consistency isnt always a hallmark of GbV albums, but Crystal Nuns Cathedral walks a fairly straight line, only wandering into experiments with dissonance in moments like the jumbled "Huddled" or the slow-to-start "Birds in the Pipe" yet always returning to a core directive of anthemic, exciting rock. As with every Guided by Voices album, fans will find some songs excellent and some unmemorable, but Crystal Nuns Cathedrals steady approach and considered construction make for more keepers than duds, and one of the bands stronger entries. ~ Fred Thomas