Guided By Voices have responded to rumours that they are breaking up by announcing their second album of the year and 42nd in total.
It is only three months since the Dayton, Ohio indie rock veterans released ‘Universe Room’, the 41st full-length of their four-decade career, but shortly after fans started to speculate that the end may be near for the group last week, news arrived of ‘Thick Rich And Delicious’, which will be out on October 31.
The break-up rumours appeared to stem from an interview given by guitarist Bobby Bare Jr. to the Raw Impressions podcast, hosted by Lou Barlow of Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh, and his wife Adelle. Watch the whole interview below.
When Adelle mentioned that she had never been to a Guided By Voices live show, Bare replied: “We’re breaking up. You will never [go to a show]. It’s over. We’re never playing again.”
However, it now seems that the “breaking up” that Bare was referring to was his internet connection during the interview, with Adelle later telling Brooklyn Vegan that they were experiencing “a lot of technical difficulties during the podcast episode”.
Bare’s assertion that they will not be playing any more gigs in the foreseeable future, however, would seem to be accurate. “My understanding is that they didn’t have plans to play more live shows,” Adelle added. “But I think they are still recording!”
Robert Pollard’s band released a steady stream of albums between their 1987 debut ‘Devil Between My Toes’ and 2004’s ‘Half Smiles Of The Decomposed’. They split that year, and after being active again from 2010 to 2014, they reformed in 2016, with Bare joining alongside bassist Mark Shue.
Their turnover has been faster than ever since then, with ‘Thick Rich And Delicious’ set to be their 20th album in less than 10 years.
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