Ask Them

The Robert Pollard Writing Machine continues to find (or rather create) outlets for his songwriting prowess outside his already mass-productive band, Guided by Voices. This time around, it is the playfully monikered Lexo and the Leapers, whose six-song mini-album from Rockathon Records, Ask Them, is number two in that label's Fading Captain Series. The six songs here do not equal an insubstantial listen — the EP finds Pollard fronting Dayton band the Tasties, whose playing is muscular, ferocious, full-bore rock. Any experimental tendencies are kept locked away. The soundscape is pop-directed but with a relentless sonic wall of guitars and feedback. The songs — cranked out in a single day — are unflaggingly, implausibly good, especially the carefree hook on "Time Machines" and the poignant melody and ruminative lyrics of "Plainskin." Whether Lexo and the Leapers are a full-time side project for both Pollard and the Tasties or just a whim to kill time (while putting out good pop music) is anyone's guess.