http://tinyurl.com/2dtdq Update: GBV Offers Up Final 'Smiles'
As tipped here last month, Guided By Voices will release its final studio album, "Half Smiles of the Decomposed," Aug. 24 via Matador. The 14-track set was produced by Todd Tobias, who was behind the boards for the group's 2003 album "Earthquake Glue." GBV frontman Robert Pollard recently confirmed the group will split at year's end.
"Half Smiles" is musically of a piece with GBV's past few albums, blending upbeat rockers like "Gonna Never Have To Die" and "Asphyxiated Circle" with more meditative fare such as "Window of My World" and "A Second Spurt of Growth." A snippet from what sounds like a television evangelist can be heard at the beginning of "Sons of Apollo," while keyboards and acoustic guitars underscore the penultimate cut "(S)mothering and Coaching."
Album opener "Everybody Thinks I'm a Raincloud (When I'm Not Looking)" seems to reflect Pollard's decision to dissolve GBV in lines like "This is not my day / nobody really cares anymore anyhow / nobody called again / 'cause they said that I'm too lazy to stay alive."
GBV only has six tour dates on its schedule at present, beginning with a June 4 show in its Dayton, Ohio, hometown. The itinerary is open between mid-June and Aug. 19, when the group will play a free concert on Manhattan's Hudson River Pier.
A spokesperson says a full tour will follow the new album's release.
And while Pollard previously said GBV's final gig would be on New Year's Eve in New York, plans are now calling for that show to be held in Chicago.
Here is the track list for "Half Smiles of the Decomposed":
"Everybody Thinks I'm a Raincloud (When I'm Not Looking)"
"Sleep Over Jack"
"Girls of Wild Strawberries"
"Gonna Never Have To Die"
"Window of My World"
"The Closets of Henry"
"Tour Guide at the Winston Churchill Memorial"
"Asia Minor"
"Sons of Apollo"
"Sing for Your Meat"
"Asphyxiated Circle"
"A Second Spurt of Growth"
"(S)mothering and Coaching"
"Huffman Prairie Flying Field"
