Robert Pollard, the former leader of Guided By Voices, has only increased his output since putting GBV to rest in 2004. Yet, 2010’s Moses On a Snail is a slowdown of sorts. It features only 12 songs, not the usual barrage, and the tempos trend towards the slower end of the beats-per-minute chart. “The Weekly Crow” sets the tone. The guitars and warbling keyboards trudge behind Pollard’s weary harmonies and his lead vocals that sound like an Englishman caught in the rain without his umbrella. The power chords of “A Constant Strangle” lurch forward with the feeling that everything could come apart at any moment. This unusually dour Pollard release is fascinating in how it balances its downcast mood. “Arrows and Balloons” allows a few rays of sunshine to burst through as the guitars shuffle between two chords and “It’s News” sounds like something birthed in the late-‘70s new wave movement. The title track ends things with a five-minute epic. For Pollard, this is as prog-rock as he’s ever attempted.