With his 16th studio solo album, Robert Pollard drew inspiration from classic rock releases, scrambling the titles of their songs to birth his own. The result brings a new breed of his signature lo-fi recording style, this time around with complex tiers of ever-changing song arrangements that still never surpass the three-minute mark (save for the anomalously long “Tired Life”). Even though the opening “Mr. Fantastic Must Die" is only a minute and 27 seconds, the song’s intricate time changes, drum patterns, and comic book lyrics come together to play like prog-rock for the ADD generation. The title track rocks out with the kind of meaty guitar riffs and boot-stomping rhythms that invoke images of teenage longhairs in double-denim outfits before an ascending chorus, trimmed with all kinds of effect pedals, serves as a reminder that Pollard is still indie rock to the core.
- Mars Classroom
- Boston Spaceships
- Guided By Voices
- Teenage Guitar
- Cosmos
- Circus Devils