Ricked Wicky

One of the many musical projects from the remarkably prolific Robert Pollard, Ricked Wicky was Pollard's first new musical outlet after Guided by Voices broke up (for the second time) in September 2014. Pollard announced he had pulled the plug on a GbV tour days before it was set to begin, telling the New York Times, "It’s gone as far as it was going to go and to go beyond this point, to any degree or any length would be just going through the motions." Pollard also mentioned he would be releasing an album under a new group rubric, Ricked Wicky, a band name he coined when he was in his early teens. Perhaps with tongue in cheek, Pollard described Ricked Wicky as a "sophisticated arena rock band," and "Mobility," the first track released from the band's debut album I Sell the Circus, certainly reflected Pollard's influences in hard rock, muscular pop, and progressive rock. Featuring production from Pollard's longtime collaborator Todd Tobias and instrumental work from Nick Mitchell, I Sell the Circus was released by Fire Records in February 2015.