Guided by Voices tour dates, album news

The new Guided by Voices album, Class Clown Spots A UFO, is due out on June 12. It quickly follows the Dayton,  Ohio alt-rockers' acclaimed Let's Go Eat The Factory from last year.

 

Class Clown songs include "He Rises (Our Union Bellboy)," "Blue Babbleship Bay," "Forever Until It Breaks" and the title track - a melodically-complex, shot-through-with-melancholia song that serves as a kind of sadder and wiser riposte to XTC's "Making Plans For Nigel" as performed by the Hollies.

The 21-track album clocks in at just under 40 minutes. "Keep It In Motion" is a propulsive, drum-machine driven pop song which features acoustic guitars, strings, and dual singing not heard since "14 Cheerleader Coldfront" on 1992's Propeller.

Galvanic rocker "Jon the Croc" is a clear single candidate; "Chain to the Moon," is one of the saddest and prettiest songs leader Bob Pollard has ever written. In between, you get wah-wah guitar solos, a wide range of unusual recording techniques of varying fidelity and a generous helping of Alien Lanes-style snippets.

Sequencing of Class Clown seems to harken back to that album, where songs bleed into each other, fade outs segue into fade ins, short bursts of melodic rock ("Billy Wire," "Roll of the Dice, Kick in the Head") jut against somber chamber pop ("They and Them," "Starfire"). 

Class Clown Spots a UFO will be followed by a third GBV record since the reunion: The Bears for Lunch is due in late November.

TOUR DATES

7/6 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
7/7 - New York, NY - CBGB Festival at Central Park Summerstage
7/15 - Cincinnati, OH - Bunbury Festival
9/8 - Dayton, OH - Downtown Revival Music Festival
9/14 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
9/18 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
9/19 - Orlando, FL - The Beacham
9/21 - Pensacola, FL - DeLuna Festival
9/22 - New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks
9/24 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
9/25 - Austin, TX - Emo's East
9/27 - Columbia, MO - Blue Note
9/28 - Lawrence, KS - Granada
9/29 - St Louis, MO - Plush