Class Clown Spots A UFO

Guided By Voices’ 17th album (and second LP in six months) is a typically ramshackle salvo of laconic vocals and distortion-laden guitars. Treading that tightrope between prolific and predictable, on the likes of ‘He Rises! Our Union Bellboy’ and ‘Fighter Pilot’ the lo-fi luminaries sound like a band running out of ideas, and the skuzzy, unmistakably ‘90s-sounding one and two minute songs all begin to sound the same after a while. There are a few standouts – notably the power pop of ‘Billy Wire’ and the title track – but mostly it’s a case of same old, same old for the quintet.