The Crawling Distance

With instrumental foil Todd Tobias providing much of the backing, ex-Guided By Voices leader Robert Pollard continues his relentless foray into the world of obscure indie-pop with another strong batch of surrealistic songs. "It's Easy" is the rare Pollard ballad that nearly sounds morose until you listen to the sketchy lyrics, but elsewhere things motor away with his usual chug, as "Faking My Harlequin" hits a hypnotizing buzz with its highway cruise, while "Too Much Fun" deliberately slices and dices its rhythms until it sounds as if Pollard and his "band" are out parking cars. Plenty of aching, echoed reverb adds the usual haunting quality to these slightly British-sounding pop gems and while nothing approaches the tight-knit chemistry of his old band, Pollard always sounds like an enthusiastic kid falling in love with pop music for the first time. A decent trick considering the two decades he's been at it and considering how many songs he's penned.